Berlin Substation Burns Amid German Grid Sabotage Wave
Berlin Substation Burns Amid German Grid Sabotage Wave
The News
Berlin police are investigating a fire that spread to a transformer substation in the city's Mitte district early Monday, the latest incident in a string of apparent sabotage attacks on Germany's power grid.
The blaze started at a construction site before reaching the substation, police said. Fire crews worked through the night while investigators examined the site, and the cause was not immediately clear.
Separately, prosecutors in the eastern state of Saxony said Monday that authorities have found a total of 21 explosive devices in their investigation into attacks on the electricity grid. All 21 were defused.
What Investigators Have Found
Police say they are searching for a 48-year-old man who sent letters to authorities and media claiming responsibility for a series of grid sabotage attacks. Officers found what appeared to be explosives at his home.
In the letters, the man cited his opposition to fossil fuels as his motive, according to Herbert Reul, interior minister for the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the evidence pointed to a case of "climate extremism."
Timeline
Berlin accuses Russia of responsibility for a failed drone attack at Halle/Leipzig airport, putting German critical infrastructure at the center of wider European security fears.
A passer-by in Dormagen, near Dusseldorf, spots pipes fitted with cables and timers aimed at a substation in an apparent attempt to short-circuit a grid transformer. Police later find two launch devices in the area. A substation in nearby Bergheim, near Cologne, is vandalized.
Police say they are hunting a 48-year-old man who claimed responsibility for the attacks in letters. Reul and Dobrindt hold a press conference; Dobrindt calls the evidence a case of "climate extremism."
Police in the western city of Wesel launch a major operation at the Niederrhein substation after finding "irregularities," including a hole cut in an exterior security fence, Bild reported. A helicopter circles the facility as officers sweep the area; it was unclear whether equipment was damaged or tampered with.
Fire at a Berlin construction site spreads to a transformer substation in Mitte. Saxony prosecutors say 21 explosive devices have been found and defused.
Reactions
Dobrindt, the federal interior minister, said in an interview with the Sunday newspaper Bild am Sonntag that he stood by his claims that Russia has been behind a string of hybrid attacks on German soil. He said Germany is planning a broad package of measures against drone attacks, cyber intrusions and other forms of Russian sabotage, including a national "cyberdome" to detect and intercept hacking attacks.
Russia has long rejected allegations that it is carrying out operations in Western Europe.
Natia Seskuria, an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, told The Independent that Russia uses provocations against NATO members to "signal that Moscow retains the capacity to escalate the conflict beyond Ukraine's borders."
"In doing so, Putin aims to pressure the West into concessions by raising the perceived costs of continued confrontation," she said. She added that the provocations "function as a stress test for NATO unity."
What's Next
The Berlin fire investigation continues, with police yet to determine a cause. The Saxony explosives investigation is ongoing, and the manhunt for the 48-year-old letter writer is unresolved.
Dobrindt's promised defense package — including the proposed national "cyberdome" — has not yet been unveiled.
More
Other sites have drawn police attention in recent days. Bild reported that suspected explosive or incendiary devices were found on overhead power lines at two substations in Saxony's Goerlitz district, prompting an operation at facilities tied to the Lusatian lignite mining and power generation region.
Power lines at one of the most critical high-voltage nodes in the eastern state of Brandenburg were damaged in what appeared to be sabotage, and police cordoned off a transformer station in Ganderkesee, citing suspicious circumstances.
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