BERLIN — German prosecutors carried out raids on Wednesday in Berlin and Frankfurt as part of an investigation into a suspected attempt to disrupt the country's gas supply. The investigation is connected to events in 2022 involving Gazprom Germania, a former German unit of the Russian energy company Gazprom.

Police searched the premises in Berlin of a suspect and another individual not under investigation. An unidentified company building in Frankfurt was also searched. No arrests were made during the raids.

The suspect is a Russian citizen who has not been publicly identified. Investigators suspect the individual of being an accessory to violating investment rules in Germany's foreign trade law and being an accessory to attempted anticonstitutional sabotage. Federal prosecutors suspect that the sale of Gazprom Germania to a Moscow-based company, which reportedly had no ties to the energy industry, along with an attempted liquidation of the unit, was intended to disrupt gas supplies in Germany.

The man under investigation is suspected of supporting the decision to liquidate Gazprom Germania with the aim of disrupting gas supply. The parent company of Gazprom Germania announced its withdrawal from the unit in 2022, weeks after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This liquidation was not permitted without prior approval for a purchase.

Berlin subsequently placed a German government agency in charge of Gazprom Germania. The German government later nationalized the company, which is now known as Securing Energy for Europe. The German government said Gazprom Germania was "of paramount significance" to the trade, transport, and storage of natural gas within Germany. Moscow cut off its remaining gas supplies to Germany several months after the invasion of Ukraine, and the Nord Stream pipelines sustained damage from undersea explosions weeks after that.