The operation at the base, an important hub for western allies’ military support of Ukraine, comes at a time of heightened concern in European capitals that Russia could be planning acts across the continent as it commits to a course of permanent conflict with the west, Financial Times reported.

Intelligence agencies claim Russia has already begun to prepare covert bombings, arson attacks and damage to infrastructure in Europe, either directly or through proxies.

Colonel Arne Collatz, a defence ministry spokesperson, said an intruder was suspected of illegally entering the Cologne-Wahn barracks and carrying out an act of sabotage.

The Bundeswehr, or German armed forces, later said that counter-intelligence investigators as well as members of the State Protection Office, a police unit that deals with politically motivated crimes, had been deployed to the air base to probe the incident. The base reopened later on Wednesday.

The Bundeswehr said a hole had been discovered early on Wednesday morning in the fence around the base, near its drinking water unit.

“As it could not be excluded that the perpetrator was still on the premises of the barracks, it was temporarily closed,” it said, adding that it had switched off drinking water supplies from its own network, pending the outcome of tests.

Collatz said “the safety of barracks has absolute priority at the moment and everyone is very alert to possible gaps [in security] that might arise”.

Authorities also said there had been another incident at a Nato air base in Geilenkirchen, close to Germany’s border with the Netherlands. A spokesperson for the military alliance said an unauthorised person had attempted to enter the base but had been prevented by security personnel.

The security level was raised at the facility, but it was not sealed off, Nato said, adding that by Wednesday afternoon protocols had been restored to their normal level.

The spokesman added that Nato did not believe the incident was connected to the suspected sabotage at Cologne-Wahn.

A statement by the Bundeswehr’s territorial leadership command about Cologne-Wahn said it “wishes all members of the armed forces who had come to harm during the incident a speedy and complete recovery”. The Bundeswehr did not say how many people had been affected or provide other details.

News magazine Der Spiegel said the military air base to the south-east of Cologne, the biggest city in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia, provides military support for Kyiv, while Ukrainian soldiers who undergo training in Germany return home from the facility.
MNA/PR