Early Wednesday morning, an explosion shook the Augsburg train station in Germany, slightly injuring two Ukrainian citizens and triggering a police investigation. Authorities promptly sealed off the area for hours after the incident, which occurred just after 3 a.m. local time.
The victims, a 17-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man, were fortunate to escape with only minor injuries. As emergency teams responded swiftly, the police found a suspicious package at the site. This discovery led to the temporary closure of the station.
However, after thorough checks, the package was deemed harmless. Train services resumed by 10 a.m. local time. Police spokesperson Timo Küfner assured the public, saying:
We can give the all-clear — the object we found in front of the main train station was harmless, and we have reopened the station.
Küfner also noted that the investigation into the explosion's cause and potential motives was ongoing. "It’s still too early to say anything about a possible motive for the overnight explosion, but we are investigating, " he told reporters.
This incident comes amid rising diplomatic tensions between Germany and Russia. Just a day earlier, Germany had accused Russia of a failed attempt to sabotage the Leipzig/Halle Airport using a drone. In response, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul took decisive actions, including closing Russia's consulate in Bonn and ending the contract for the Russian House cultural center in Berlin. German authorities had concluded that Moscow was behind the Aug. 4 incident.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that forensic and intelligence evidence directly connected Russia to the airport sabotage attempt. At Leipzig/Halle Airport, officials discovered a drone equipped with an explosive device near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane. A faulty detonator prevented the device from exploding.
Authorities also suspect a second drone collided with another cargo aircraft at the same airport. Dobrindt explained that this incident fits within Russia's "well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe, " underscoring broader concerns about Moscow's actions.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin quickly rejected Germany's accusations as "absurd." Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova warned that Moscow would respond to Germany's actions in a "mirror-image" manner. The embassy called Berlin's measures an "unprecedented escalation in Russian-German relations."
Alongside the closure of diplomatic sites, Wadephul announced stricter entry rules for Russian nationals. He also revealed additional measures targeting Russia's shadow fleet and confirmed that Russia's ambassador to Germany, Sergei Nechayev, had been summoned for talks.
