Following claims spreading that Russians were responsible for the catastrophic attack on energy infrastructure in some of Berlin’s wealthiest neighborhood, the Berlin police are refuting these claims. Notably, a Christian Democrat (CDU) politician appeared on public media outlet ZDF and said the Russians are likely responsible.
CDU MP Roderich Kiesewetter is being accused of spreading rumors, or so-called disinformation, on Monday that Russia might be behind the attack on Berlin’s power grid. Berlin police are now calling it “fake news.”
“There is absolutely no evidence of this so far.” said Deputy Police Chief Marco Langner at a press conference on Tuesday. “These are the usual fake news stories we always encounter in such situations, intended to unsettle people.”
🇩🇪🚨 Officials in Berlin initially told families and pensioners affected by the ongoing power and heating outage that they could stay in a hotel at a discounted rate of €70 a night.
Many slammed the proposal, reminding the city-state government that it's spending nearly €1… pic.twitter.com/8Csh5mCzX9
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) January 6, 2026The attack hit Berlin on Saturday, and responsibility has been claimed by the well-known left-wing Vulcangruppe (Volcano Group). The group has been active with major attacks on Berlin energy infrastructure since 2011, which also knocked out power to the Tesla plant outside Berlin, along with surrounding settlements. That attack alone is estimated to have cost €100 million. The group has never been apprehended.
Langer said that security authorities are once again attributing this latest attack to the Vulkangruppe. However, police are conducting their investigation in all directions.
🇩🇪 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, 2026However, Kiesewetter is not the only one claiming Russians were behind the attack. Rumors were spread that the statement from the left-wing terror group — which cited climate change, among other reasons, as the reason behind its attack — might have been translated from Cyrillic script.
A linguistic analysis of the statement allegedly showed “that a back-translation into Russian provides a much better linguistic representation than the clunky German one reads there,” CDU politician Kiesewetter also explained to Welt. “We know that Russia carries out a number of attacks and acts of sabotage.”
So far, the Berlin police have debunked this claim of Russians being behind the terror incident
The attack, which took out power to 45,000 households in areas such as Wannsee and Zehlendorf, is still ongoing for many residents, many of whom are still without power. The attack has also been highly embarrassing for not only the CDU-led Berlin government of Mayor Kai Wegner, but also for the entire federal security apparatus, which has failed to catch the terror groups for well over a decade.
Additionally, scenes of elderly victims being carted into gym halls while refugees are transferred to warm hotels has created a shocking juxtaposition for many Berlin residents.
