Crime & Public Safety
Germany arrests power-grid sabotage suspect
German police arrested a 48-year-old suspect near the Weisweiler power plant in North Rhine-Westphalia on Tuesday in a sabotage case linked to attacks on the power grid.
Police in Cologne said the man was carrying additional explosive devices when he was arrested and offered no resistance. Officers also found a tent in nearby undergrowth containing further explosive charges, which bomb squad experts were assessing.
The suspect, partially named in German media as Daniel V., had been on the run since attacks last Tuesday in Brandenburg and North Rhine-Westphalia. Authorities suspect him of involvement in a series of attacks that apparently aimed to disrupt power from coal-fired plants.
The attacks followed a similar pattern, with firework-like rockets used to shoot wires across high-voltage cables in an attempt to cause short circuits. No major outages were reported, but some power-generating units had to be temporarily taken off the grid.
Police commandos had raided the suspect's home and an abandoned truck after he claimed the attacks in handwritten letters, but did not find him at the time. Officials said explosives were found during a search of his apartment.
“We must assume that this is a case of climate extremism,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said at the time. North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said last week the letters contained detailed descriptions of attack plans and that “the author cites as his motive the fight against fossil fuels.”
Germany has recently faced several attacks on its power grid, with far-left activists claiming responsibility in some cases. The most serious hit Berlin in January, causing an electricity outage that left tens of thousands of homes without power for nearly a week in the middle of winter. The far-left Vulkangruppe, or Volcano Group, claimed responsibility for the arson attack on high-voltage cables that caused that blackout.
Update
Police said the 48-year-old suspect was arrested near the Weisweiler power plant in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Police said he was carrying additional explosive devices when arrested and offered no resistance.
Police said they found a tent nearby containing further explosive charges that bomb squad experts were assessing.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 September 2026 at 11:29:41 UTC.
Update
German police said a suspect was arrested in sabotage attacks on power lines.
Source note: AFP news report published on 8 September 2026 at 10:35:04 UTC.
Update
German media named the suspect as Daniel V.
Bild reported that an armed elite police team stormed a truck in Hambach Forest suspected of belonging to the activist but failed to apprehend him.
Officials said the suspect's letters also confessed to planning further attacks, and devices to launch small rockets were found at other locations.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 17:17:46 UTC.
Update
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said letters sent to security officials and media contained precise details and were presumed authentic.
Officials said the letter writer cited the fight against fossil fuels as the motive.
Officials said suspected explosive materials were found during searches of the suspect's home in Gevelsberg.
The latest account says several attacks and attempted attacks occurred in North Rhine-Westphalia and Brandenburg, with no major power cuts.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 16:17:38 UTC.
Update
German authorities said they are hunting a 48-year-old suspect.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said authorities must assume the case involves climate extremism.
Officials said the man is thought to have sent a letter confessing to the acts.
Officials said suspected explosive materials were found during a search of the man's home.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 15:49:06 UTC.
Update
A minister said a suspect in Germany's power grid sabotage case is a climate activist.
Source note: AFP news report published on 4 September 2026 at 15:30:26 UTC.
Update
Investigators found six launchers in a field next to the Bergheim substation, according to senior detective Michael Esser.
Investigators suspect the launchers were built to fire pyrotechnic devices carrying a wire over power lines to cause a short circuit.
A wire used in the Bergheim attack was set alight and damaged a fence, and witnesses saw brief flashes of light, according to investigators.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 September 2026 at 14:01:26 UTC.
Update
North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul said officials were probing whether the Bergheim attack was directed by a foreign state or left-wing extremism.
Officials said the Bergheim perpetrators were suspected of placing conductive material on overhead power lines to cause a short circuit.
Germany formally blamed Russia the same day for an attempted hybrid attack involving an explosive-laden drone at Leipzig airport last month and announced diplomatic counter-measures.
Reul said authorities were trying to determine whether the Brandenburg and Bergheim attacks were linked.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 September 2026 at 11:14:23 UTC.
Update
German police said the terrorism investigation concerns an attack on an electricity substation near a coal-fired power plant in eastern Germany.
Authorities said a second substation incident in North Rhine-Westphalia knocked out power on some cables and was being investigated on suspicion of sabotage.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 September 2026 at 09:55:52 UTC.
Update
German police said they were launching a terrorism investigation over the substation attack.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 September 2026 at 09:34:47 UTC.
Update
Amprion said external interference at the affected substation was highly likely.
RWE said five power-generating units at two coal-fired plants in the region were knocked out by the disruption.
RWE said three units were expected to return online later Wednesday and two others at the weekend.
The item adds that a separate sabotage attack using improvised explosives damaged lines near a substation southeast of Berlin a day earlier.
Source note: AFP news report published on 2 September 2026 at 08:12:09 UTC.
Uncertainty notes
Bomb squad experts were still assessing the explosive charges found in the tent.
The suspect's exact role in each attack has not been established in the supplied material.
Source
AFP news report published on .