Berlin mayor calls left-wing arson attack behind mass blackout terrorism that endangers lives

Berlin— An arson attack claimed by a left-wing extremist group has left tens of thousands of residents in Germany’s capital without power in the middle of winter for several days. Saturday morning’s arson attack on critical electrical infrastructure in southwest Berlin cut power to nearly 50,000 homes and businesses, and renewed scrutiny of a long-running campaign of sabotage by the leftist “Vulkangruppe.”

The group claimed responsibility for the fire, which destroyed several high-voltage cables near the Lichterfelde thermal and power station and caused one of the most serious blackouts the capital has experienced in years.

According to Stromnetz Berlin, Berlin’s power grid operator, the power supply was cut to around 45,000 homes and more than 2,000 businesses in four southern Berlin districts.

The power outage also meant that many homes were left without heat and hot water as temperatures fell well below freezing in Berlin.

While engineers restored power to parts of the grid on Monday, around 30,000 homes were still offline as technicians struggled to replace damaged underground cables buried in the frozen ground. The power operator said it did not expect to fully restore power until Thursday.

In a lengthy statement circulated online that police called credible, the Vulkangruppe said it had deliberately targeted wealthy neighborhoods, to “cut the juice off the ruling class.”

The group framed the attack as an act of protest against the use of fossil fuel energy and the increasing energy demand created by AI data centerswhich he said had accelerated climate change and expanded mass surveillance. The statement included an apology to less wealthy residents caught in the blackout, but expressed no sympathy for wealthy homeowners who were left without power.

The impact of the attack quickly spread beyond the areas the group said it intended to attack. Hospitals, nursing homes and residents of high-rise buildings who rely on elevators were affected. Mobile phone networks failed in some districts and commuter train services were disrupted. Police used loudspeakers mounted on patrol cars to inform residents, and some schools delayed reopening after the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner condemned the arson as an “absolutely unacceptable” act of terrorism. He warned that attacks on energy infrastructure were putting lives at risk and putting enormous pressure on the city’s emergency services.

“These are not childish pranks, but professional criminals who attacked these power grids,” Wegner said Monday in an interview with German public broadcaster RBB. “This is not just arson or sabotage. This is already terrorism. This was a far-left group that once again attacked our infrastructure and, in doing so, also endangered the lives of people, of elderly people who may need respirators, of families with young children, and now we have to catch these perpetrators.”

Franziska Giffey, Berlin state senator for economic affairs, energy and public enterprises, called on the federal government to help with the criminal investigation into the extremist group’s actions, which she called an attack on “our free society.”

“It should be federal assistance in investigations,” he said. “The question is whether these are simply left-wing activist groups acting for ideological reasons or whether there is something more behind them.”

Security officials said the arson fit a pattern that has been developing for more than a decade. According to assessments by Berlin authorities and German intelligence services, groups using the name Vulkangruppe or closely related labels have been responsible for a series of attacks on electrical, railway and communications infrastructure since around 2011.

Early incidents included arson attacks on railway and power cables in Berlin that disrupted traffic and caused costly damage. In 2018, a fire arson on power lines cut power to thousands of homes and businesses in the capital, while subsequent attacks targeted research and communications facilities linked to digital infrastructure.

The group has gained more attention in recent years through increasingly prominent actions. In March 2024, responsibility was claimed for a fire arson against a high-voltage pylon that supplied electricity to the Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin-Brandenburg, temporarily stop production at the plant.

In September, another fire set against power lines in southeast Berlin caused a 60-hour blackout affecting tens of thousands of residents, reportedly the longest power outage in the city since World War II. It was widely attributed to the same extremist group, although the Vulkangruppe did not explicitly claim it.

Authorities warn that these types of attacks require little specialized knowledge, but can have dramatic and far-reaching consequences, exposing vulnerabilities in densely interconnected urban infrastructure.

The latest blackout has intensified calls for greater protection of power grids and plans for faster emergency responses to such incidents.