Germany suggests turning metro stations into bomb shelters
The German government is drawing up a list of public buildings to use as bunkers in the event of a major war with Russia breaking out, an Interior Ministry spokesman has said.
Among the structures being considered are metro stations, underground car parks, and some other state buildings, the spokesman told reporters on Monday. Citizens will also be encouraged to convert their own basements and garages into shelters, the official added.
Once the list is compiled, Germans will be able to use an app to locate their nearest bunker.
While the spokesman did not mention the Ukraine conflict during his briefing, German tabloid Bild claimed earlier on Monday that the decision to expand Germany’s bunker network was made in light of the perceived threat of war with Russia.
Germany emerged from the Cold War with more than 2,000 such bunkers, although around three quarters of these have since been decommissioned. Germany’s current network of 579 bunkers has space to accommodate around 480,000 people, a fraction of the country’s population of 84 million, Reuters reported.
The so-called “bunker plan” was agreed in June, the official said. However, Monday’s press conference came just after the US and France both confirmed that they gave Ukraine permission to use ATACMS and SCALP-EG missiles to conduct long-range strikes on internationally-recognized Russian territory.
The UK has not publicly stated whether it has permitted Kiev to use its Storm Shadow (the British name for the SCALP-EG) missiles, although Ukrainian forces used both ATACMS and Storm Shadow missiles in attacks deep inside Russia’s borders last week.
Kiev has asked Berlin to follow Washington’s lead and donate German-made Taurus cruise missiles, but Chancellor Olaf Scholz has thus far refused, arguing that doing so would risk Germany being dragged into open war with Russia.
Russia responded to last week’s ATACMS and Storm Shadow strikes by firing a new hypersonic ballistic missile – the nuclear-capable Oreshnik – at a Ukrainian military industrial facility in Dnepropetrovsk. In a speech on Thursday evening, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that further attacks on Russian soil would be met with retaliatory strikes on targets of Moscow’s choosing, which could include the military facilities of countries providing Kiev with long-range weapons.
