German authorities claimed for years that “right-wing extremists” are the biggest threat facing Germany, only for Islamist terror to predominate, along with growing cases of left-wing terror. Now, after a left-wing terror group knocked out power to the southwest of Berlin, leaving 46,000 houses without power, 400 police are being assigned to protect power cables and other sensitive energy infrastructure.
The blackout has been a major black eye for the ruling government, including Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner, who, despite previous attacks from the Vulcangruppe (“Volcano Group”) dating all the way back to 2011, did little to stop the latest disastrous attack in the middle of winter.
Government incompetence had a high price, though, with one elderly person reportedly losing their life due to hypothermia, along with hospitals, schools, nursing homes, daycares, and businesses all being paralyzed due to the blackout crisis.
In response, 400 officers are now on a “mission” to guard power boxes, cable ducts, and essential wires.
Taggespiegel reports that the large-scale operation will see 300 officers patrol in southwest Berlin, and another detachment will protect power poles and cable bridges. Some officers will be in plainclothes as well. The goal is to prevent other power outages, and so far, the deployment is scheduled for an “indefinite” period.
Notably, the police unions are already slamming the move.
“The fact that our colleagues now have to push completely pointless guard duty and object protection at cable ducts is a disgrace,” says GdP state chief Stephan Weh. “There are private security services that the responsible companies could hire.“
Weh said politicians have failed to protect infrastructure for years, including after the terror attack in Berlin-Adlershof in September 2025, which produced a massive blackout.
He said that “no effort was made on equipping key points of the power supply with video and sensor technology.“ Now, Wegner and Berlin authorities are using an ad-hoc measure that involves taking hundreds of police away from patrol and security and using them as a makeshift security detail.
GdP leader Weh added: “Given the other tasks in this city, it is slowly but surely enough for our colleagues to have to pay the price for the political inaction in protecting critical infrastructure.“
🇩🇪 In this video, a cancer patient living through the Berlin blackout says he is sleeping in the hallway of his apartment complex because it’s the warmest part of the building.
His neighbors say the refugee center next door was evacuated days ago. pic.twitter.com/zDUojgnf0Y
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) January 6, 2026The German Police Union (DPolG) is also sharply criticizing state policy, with State Chief Bodo Pfalzgraf describing a loss of control.
“One wonders with which reserve large-scale operations in Berlin are to be managed,” he said, a clear reference to the lack of manpower the Berlin police are facing.
“My colleagues are rightly completely stunned by such excessive and senseless politically motivated hyperactivity,” said Pfalzgraf.
However, Berlin’s mayor knows the political consequences will be massive if the Volcano Group manages to take out the power again, although the group has since claimed that they would not again launch such an attack during winter.
Notably, Wegner was caught in what has been broadly described as a “lie” for playing tennis during the first few hours of the largest blackout in Berlin since the Second World War. The revelation has led to calls for his resignation from a broad range of commentators and politicians, both on the left and right.
