‘We are no longer at peace’

The commander of the German military’s newly established Operational Command, Alexander Sollfrank, warned in an interview on Thursday of increasing Russian attempts to disrupt life in Germany.

There have been “intrusion attempts” into facilities of the Bundeswehr, as Germany’s military is known, as well as drone sightings overhead, Sollfrank told dpa in Berlin.

“We are no longer at peace. We are observing hostile activities against the Bundeswehr in Germany, against infrastructure, including spying,” Sollfrank said.

“We repeatedly have drone sightings over areas where they shouldn’t actually be,” he said.

The commander also refers to the repeated severing of cables in the Baltic Sea, where “we don’t yet know exactly how it happened or who is behind it.”

“But there are already suspicions as to how the whole thing could have happened and that there is a clear damaging intention behind it,” he said.

In the latest incident over the weekend, an undersea cable between Sweden and Latvia, which is used by the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC), was damaged, although the exact cause remains still unclear.

The authorities in Stockholm are investigating possible serious sabotage and have detained a suspicious vessel.

The commander of the German military’s newly established Operational Command, Alexander Sollfrank, warned in an interview on Thursday of increasing Russian attempts to disrupt life in Germany.

There have been “intrusion attempts” into facilities of the Bundeswehr, as Germany’s military is known, as well as drone sightings overhead, Sollfrank told dpa in Berlin.

“We are no longer at peace. We are observing hostile activities against the Bundeswehr in Germany, against infrastructure, including spying,” Sollfrank said.

“We repeatedly have drone sightings over areas where they shouldn’t actually be,” he said.

The commander also refers to the repeated severing of cables in the Baltic Sea, where “we don’t yet know exactly how it happened or who is behind it.”

“But there are already suspicions as to how the whole thing could have happened and that there is a clear damaging intention behind it,” he said.

In the latest incident over the weekend, an undersea cable between Sweden and Latvia, which is used by the Latvian State Radio and Television Centre (LVRTC), was damaged, although the exact cause remains still unclear.

The authorities in Stockholm are investigating possible serious sabotage and have detained a suspicious vessel.