German police and state security services are investigating what they believe to be an arson attack on a cable bridge near a gas-fired power plant in Berlin-Lichterfelde that left large parts of southwest Berlin without electricity and heating on Saturday.
On Sunday, Bild cited authorities who said they consider a letter claiming responsibility from the far-left extremist Volcano Group (Vulkangruppe) to be authentic and credible.
The blackout affected around 45,000 households during sub-zero temperatures, with some residents also losing heating. Emergency shelters were opened, and officials warned that repairs could take several days.
The affected area of Lichterfelde is considered to be one of the most affluent areas of the German capital. As of Sunday morning, around 7,000 households had had their power restored, but the majority were still in the dark.
In a statement published on the Vulkangruppe’s website under the headline “Shutting down fossil power plants is manual work. Courage only. Militant New Year’s greetings,” the group framed the attack as a political act of defiance against climate policy.
🇩🇪🔴Leftist radicals claim responsibility for cutting power to some of the wealthiest areas in all of Germany, known as the "villa districts" in Berlin.
45,000 households were without power, including 2,200 businesses.
Economics Senator Franziska Giffey underlined how… pic.twitter.com/WivYJkVh1N
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) January 4, 2026“We can no longer afford the rich. We can initiate the end of the imperial way of life. We can stop the plundering of the Earth,” it read.
Describing fossil fuel extraction, the letter states: “In the greed for energy, the Earth is drained, sucked dry, burned, flayed, scorched, raped, destroyed. Entire regions are made uninhabitable by the heat. They simply burn. Or habitats disappear under floods or as a result of rising sea levels.”
Referring directly to the incident in Berlin, the group writes: “Last night, we successfully sabotaged the gas-fired power plant in Berlin-Lichterfelde.” It adds that the resulting power outages were not the intended objective, saying: “Power outages were not the goal of the action, but rather the fossil energy industry.”
Was im Berliner Südwesten passiert, ist kein Stromausfall – es ist eine Katastrophe von nationaler Tragweite.
1) Bürgermeister Kai Wegner war den ganzen Tag nicht vor Ort. Kein persönliches Lagebild, keine sichtbare Verantwortung. Er regiert gefühlt im Homeoffice.
2) Die… pic.twitter.com/rq9KHIi1gV
— Jana (@janaviktoriana) January 3, 2026The group characterizes the attack as “an act of self-defense and international solidarity with all those who protect the Earth and life,” and expresses hope that fossil fuel extraction can be stopped as a result of such actions.
Addressing the impact on residents, the letter includes an apology directed at poorer households affected by the blackout, while stating that the group’s sympathy for “the many villa owners in these districts” — in other words, wealthy residents — was “limited.”
According to Tagesschau, police regard the letter as authentic and its contents as credible based on current investigations. State security authorities are examining the case in all directions.
Governing Mayor Kai Wegner of the CDU and Berlin’s Economics Senator Franziska Giffey of the SPD said during a visit to an emergency shelter that they assume the fire was an arson attack. Wegner said the perpetrators were “clearly left-wing extremists.”
The Volcano Group is known to Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. In its 2024 report, the agency said the group deliberately selects infrastructure targets with “noticeable consequences for the population” and knowingly accepts harm to uninvolved third parties.
Security experts cited by Tagesschau say the group has repeatedly targeted cable ducts, power lines, and communications infrastructure in Berlin and Brandenburg. Similar letters have been linked to earlier attacks, including incidents in Berlin-Charlottenburg in 2018, near the Tesla construction site in 2021, and a power pylon fire in Brandenburg in March 2024 that temporarily shut down Tesla’s Grünheide factory.
Nach dem #Stromausfall mussten zwei Personen mit Pflegegrad 4 und 5 die letzte Nacht in der Turnhalle im Hüttenweg verbringen. Kai Wegner und Innensenatorin Iris Spranger (SPD) schlugen deshalb beim Besuch der Notunterkunft viel Wut entgegen. pic.twitter.com/5Gst3P1nan
— Christian Latz (@ChristianLatz_) January 4, 2026On Sunday, Tagesspiegel’s head of Berlin state politics, Christian Latz, wrote on social media: “Following the power outage, two people with care levels 4 and 5 had to spend the last night in the gymnasium on Hüttenweg. Kai Wegner and Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) therefore faced a lot of anger during their visit to the emergency shelter.”
Investigations are ongoing, and no arrests have been made at the time of writing.
