Germany carries out raids in sabotage investigation related to former Gazprom unit

German federal prosecutors said police searched locations in Berlin and Frankfurt on Wednesday in a sabotage investigation tied to the former Gazprom Germania unit and an alleged attempt to disrupt Germany's gas supply.

The Federal Public Prosecutor's Office in Karlsruhe said the searches were part of a case involving a Russian citizen suspected of being an accessory to violating Germany's foreign trade law and an accessory to attempted anticonstitutional sabotage. No arrests were made.

According to AP's reporting on the prosecutor statement, the searches covered the premises of a suspect in Berlin, another person who is not under investigation, and an unidentified company in Frankfurt.

What prosecutors say

Prosecutors have not publicly named the suspect, but said the person is a Russian citizen. They said the investigation centers on allegations that the suspected conduct was meant to interfere with Germany's gas supply.

The prosecutor statement, as reported by AP and other outlets, linked the inquiry to the 2022 liquidation attempt involving Gazprom Germania, the former German unit of Russia's Gazprom. Authorities have not publicly detailed every step of the alleged plan, but said they suspect the sale to a Moscow-based company without an industry link and the attempted liquidation were designed to disrupt the gas supply.

The case remains open, and officials have not said whether additional suspects are expected or whether charges will follow.

Why the case matters

Gazprom Germania played a significant role in natural gas trade, transport and storage in Germany before Berlin intervened after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

German officials took control of the company in 2022 and later nationalized it under the name Securing Energy for Europe. The current probe reaches back to that period, when Berlin was moving to cut exposure to Russian energy pressure while the wider war was reshaping European energy policy.

The investigation also comes against the backdrop of broader concerns in Germany about sabotage, foreign interference and pressure on critical infrastructure. Prosecutors' reference to foreign trade law and attempted anticonstitutional sabotage suggests they are treating the case as more than a routine corporate dispute.

The 2022 timeline

The timeline in the current case starts with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Germany's effort to halt the liquidation of Gazprom Germania. German officials intervened on March 31, 2022, after the company was caught up in the fallout from the war and the break in energy ties with Moscow.

Prosecutors now say the suspected offense traces back to those events and to a possible effort to interfere with German energy security. The raids reported on June 24, 2026, mark the latest public development in that long-running context.

What was searched

AP reported that police searched the premises of the suspect in Berlin, a separate person who is not under investigation, and an unnamed company in Frankfurt. The identity of the Frankfurt company has not been disclosed publicly.

Authorities also have not said whether the person searched in Berlin who is not under investigation had any operational role in the events at issue. That leaves open how broad the factual picture is and whether the probe will expand.

The lack of arrests suggests prosecutors are still gathering evidence rather than moving immediately to charges. For now, the case appears to be in an investigative phase, with the next developments likely to come from further statements by prosecutors or follow-up reporting.

What comes next

Officials may yet identify additional suspects, clarify the role of the searched company, or provide more detail on the alleged liquidation maneuver and the Moscow-based buyer.

The central unanswered questions are whether prosecutors can connect the attempted liquidation to a concrete sabotage plan, and whether they will seek formal charges under foreign-trade or sabotage statutes. Any future filing could further illuminate how German authorities view the link between the former Gazprom unit and the country's energy security.