How terrorists cut off Berlin's power and the lessons to learn
A massive blackout left a significant part of the capital of a major European country without power at the beginning of the year. The cause was neither a natural disaster nor technical failure, nor even sabotage by Russian agents. It was a terrorist attack carried out by the far-left radical group Vulkangruppe (or simply Vulkan).
This is not the first attack by German left-wing radicals on energy infrastructure and likely won’t be the last.
As a result, the German authorities now face a difficult challenge: how to prevent such attacks in the future or at least minimise the damage they cause.
Read more aboutthe strike on the German capital, the motivations of the attackersand Germany’s response in the article by Uliana Krychkovska, a European Pravda journalist: Berlin in the dark: how Germany faces a new type of terrorism.
On the morning of 3 January, about 50,000 households and more than 2,000 businesses in Berlin lost power. The affected areas Nikolassee, Zehlendorf, Wannsee and Lichterfelde are among the city’s most prestigious and green districts.
Due to the scale of the damage, power could not be quickly restored.
By Sunday, 3 January, power was restored to 10,000 households in Lichterfelde, but most consumers had to wait until 8 January for reconnection.
The question of responsibility was resolved quickly. The far-left extremist group Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group) issued a statement the following day, claiming responsibility for the attack.
The group described the attack as a "societal good." According to them, setting fire to a cable bridge was a protest against the "insatiable greed for energy" and the growing economic and political influence of tech corporations, which they say harm not only the environment but also social justice.
Vulkangruppe also provided a detailed account of how they carried out the attack.
Incidentally, Vulkangruppe had already carried out a similar sabotage in March 2024, in Brandenburg, a Tesla factory suffered damage after the group set fire to power lines.
Vulkangruppe is not the only left-wing radical organisation to use terrorism.
In early September 2025, the leftist group Einige Anarchist:innen claimed responsibility for setting fire to power line supports in southeastern Berlin.
The perpetrators said their target was the Adlershof technology park, and that the action was carried out under the slogan: "Sabotage the technological advance – cut off power to the defence industry."
This shows that such actions could also pose a threat to support for Ukraine.
Although there is currently no evidence of a "Russian link" in these attacks, the Kremlin is likely already considering how such tactics could be used as an influence tool.
Analysing recent attacks on energy infrastructure, German experts on critical infrastructure emphasise that the problem lies in the lack of an emergency management system.
The independent critical infrastructure working group AG Kritis has repeatedly warned that electrical grids must be designed so that a single point of failure cannot cause widespread outages. This means that facilities should be better physically protected, and operators must also maintain backup capacity for emergencies.
Strengthening infrastructure security, rapid response by law enforcement, and most importantly developing effective strategies to prevent similar incidents in the future must become priorities for the government and responsible agencies.
Otherwise, other extremists this time from the far right could step in to present their own "solutions" to society.