Suspected Grenade Explodes Outside Jewellery Store Near German Train Station

At least two teenagers were hurt after an explosive device detonated outside a jewellery shop close to a railway station in southern Germany.

The blast, which struck Augsburg in the early hours of the morning, smashed nearby windows and prompted bomb disposal specialists to examine the scene.

Emergency crews rushed to the area at around 3.15am local time after reports of an explosion outside a Turkish jewellery store near the city’s train station.

According to German newspaper Bild, investigators believe the device was a hand grenade. The outlet reported that a 17-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man suffered ear injuries along with other minor wounds.

Local publication Augsburger Allgemeine said the explosion took place on Bahnhofstrasse, a busy shopping street that runs toward the station.

Police confirmed that both people injured in the Augsburg explosion are Ukrainian nationals.

Authorities are now probing whether the incident could be linked to organised crime, while sources cited by Bild suggested the railway station itself may not have been the intended target.

After the initial blast, officers also discovered another suspicious object inside the train station, further intensifying the security response.

The station was shut down as officials carried out their investigation, but train services resumed at around 10am local time.

Germany has been on high alert for months, following a summer of explosions across the country. 

Yesterday a major power plant in Germany was targeted with ‘homemade explosive rockets’, as Berlin was due to formally blame Russia for an incident involving an explosive-laden drone at Leipzig Airport last month.

Local media reported that a key installation near the Janschwalde coal-fired power plant in Brandenburg was repeatedly targeted with rockets on Tuesday morning, while emergency services discovered and defused additional devices.

Police have not yet confirmed that the site was attacked with rockets. Speaking to the German Press Agency, a spokesman said that possible damage to a power line had been discovered and bomb disposal experts were at the scene.

They added that several improvised explosive and incendiary devices were also discovered after a possible property damage incident.

Police said there was no danger to the public and that the incident did not cause a power outage.

Germany’s interior minister Jan Redmann later called the incident an ‘act of sabotage’ and added that the number of devices found, currently in the double digits, was still rising.

In a statement released on Tuesday, power plant operator LEAG confirmed: ‘Unknown perpetrators allegedly caused damage to several lines in the 50Hz transmission network.’

The Janschwalde lignite-fired power plant is the largest in Brandenburg state.

The attacks come as Berlin formally blamed Russia for an incident involving an explosive-laden drone at a strategic airport last month. 

The Nato member, which supports Ukraine in its fight against Russia, has long accused Moscow of targeting it with a campaign of hybrid attacks involving espionage and sabotage – charges denied by Russia.

Germany has for months reported suspicious drone sightings over military and industrial sites, but the Leipzig incident on the night of August 4 raised the alarm as a drone found there carried explosives.

Police used a robot to defuse the device found near a Ukrainian cargo plane, and another drone was reportedly found weeks later near the airport, also with traces of an explosive substance.

The airport in eastern Germany plays a key role in the transport of military goods, including by the German military and Nato allies, and also serves as a base for Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz later said Germany had increasingly ‘found itself in the crosshairs of hybrid attackers’.

But Berlin has so far refrained from blaming Russia while speaking only of the possible involvement of ‘foreign powers’.