German authorities arrested a 48-year-old man carrying explosives after a multistate series of attacks allegedly used homemade rockets to short-circuit high-voltage infrastructure near coal-fired power plants, incidents the country’s interior minister characterized as “climate terrorism.”
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
German police have arrested a man suspected of carrying out a series of unusual sabotage attacks against high-voltage electrical infrastructure near coal-fired power plants, ending a days-long manhunt after officers encountered him near the Weisweiler power station on Tuesday.
The 48-year-old German suspect, identified under the country’s privacy rules only as “Daniel V,” allegedly targeted at least six electricity sites across three German states using homemade rockets designed to interfere with high-voltage lines, according to a Breitbart News report.
Police arrested the suspect after he allegedly attempted to avoid a checkpoint near the Weisweiler coal-fired power plant. He did not resist arrest, but authorities said his backpack contained explosives.
Investigators subsequently discovered a concealed tent nearby that had also been rigged with explosives.
Authorities are now examining whether the suspect was responsible for additional attacks or attempted attacks that have not yet been identified.
German broadcaster NTV reported that investigators believe the attacks involved homemade projectiles carrying conductive material intended to create short circuits across high-voltage infrastructure. Bright blue-white electrical flashes were observed during some incidents as electricity arced toward the ground.
The locations appear to have been selected because of their proximity to lignite-fired power plants, raising the possibility that the objective was to force generating units offline by disrupting substations and transmission equipment supplying them.
At the Turnow-Preilack substation near the Jänschwalde power plant in Brandenburg, more than 20 projectiles were reportedly fired during one attack. Two short circuits occurred, although the surrounding electricity grid remained operational.
Other attacks caused more significant disruption.
Dutch broadcaster NOS reported that one coal-fired plant experienced a brief interruption after a major outage associated with the attacks. Part of the Bergheim power plant west of Cologne was reportedly knocked offline for several days following another high-voltage short circuit.
The manhunt began last week after German newspapers received handwritten letters claiming responsibility for the sabotage and outlining political motives.
The letters reportedly declared that “generating electricity from fossil fuels is a crime” and accused Germany of complicity in “the genocide in Palestine.”
Investigators said the letters contained information about attacks that had not yet been made public and apparently made little effort to conceal the author’s identity. Police subsequently searched the suspect’s home and found homemade explosives, according to the reports.
German Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the incidents as “climate terrorism,” while also saying investigators should consider whether an outside actor such as Russia might have attempted to create the appearance of domestically motivated political sabotage.
The investigation has drawn renewed attention to a series of previous infrastructure attacks in Germany and elsewhere in Europe that authorities or self-described extremist groups have attributed to far-left or anarchist causes.
One of the most disruptive occurred in Berlin in September 2025, when approximately 50,000 homes lost electricity after a high-voltage line was set on fire. The prolonged outage reportedly exhausted some emergency generators and battery systems, stranded trams and disrupted communications, including access to emergency services.
Local reporting described the incident as a “left-wing extremist attack with insider knowledge,” citing the apparent precision with which critical infrastructure was targeted.
A group calling itself “Some Anarchists” claimed responsibility and argued that society should ultimately abandon electricity altogether, envisioning “freedom without domination and exploitation.”
“Electricity is the primary source of energy that powers every machine and the ‘progress’ necessary to reproduce this current system,” the group stated.
The organization was suspected of involvement in dozens of other infrastructure attacks.
Germany’s rail network was also hit by major disruption the previous month after cables serving an important rail corridor were set on fire. As repairs were underway, authorities discovered a second fire nearby, again interrupting operations.
Regional Interior Minister Herbert Reul said at the time: “Based on our authorities’ current assessment and understanding of this act of sabotage, it was left-wing extremists who are trying to bomb us back to pre-industrial times”.
A group calling itself “Kommando” claimed responsibility and issued a manifesto rejecting not only industrial society but proposed alternatives such as renewable energy.
“The society we live in is in the process of devouring the entire planet. The mass conversion of natural ecosystems into dead products… [is] a core mechanism of the system… None of the proposed pseudo-solutions is capable of changing this problem. Not so-called renewable energies, nor communism, nor so-called green consumerism, nor any spiritual ‘transformations.’”
“The only solution is the complete dismantling of the technological-industrial system. We consider attacks on transportation, communications, and energy infrastructure, along with other forms of resistance, to be essential in this fight.”
German railway infrastructure was similarly sabotaged in 2022 when two communications cables supporting Deutsche Bahn’s safety-critical radio system were deliberately severed approximately 340 miles apart.
The simultaneous nature of the damage prompted concerns that whoever carried it out possessed detailed knowledge of railway communications infrastructure.
A German Army general discussing such threats said the objective of modern infrastructure sabotage was “not about an enemy army with soldiers and tanks attacking our country [but] pinpricks in the population that are intended to stir up uncertainty and shake confidence in our state.”
He added that “every substation, every power plant, every pipeline can be attacked”.
Comparable incidents have occurred elsewhere in Europe.
Railway traffic across France was heavily disrupted on the opening day of the 2024 Paris Olympics after coordinated attacks on high-speed rail infrastructure. Authorities described the sabotage as “deliberate, very precise, extremely well-targeted,” while suspicion centered on ultra-left extremists.
The following day, internet backbone cables were damaged at six locations across France.
Italy experienced sabotage of electrical infrastructure supplying high-speed trains in 2019, while France saw a radio transmitter burned that year and telecommunications cables cut around Paris in 2020, leaving approximately 50,000 people without internet service.
A further series of French attacks in 2021 targeted telecommunications vehicles, fiber-optic lines and a radio tower.
Those claiming responsibility said their objective extended beyond opposition to 5G.
“it is not to protest against 5G in particular but in a broader context, fighting against the techno-world… We want to salute all the arsonists who are acting in the shadows at the moment and repeatedly beating this technological hell.”
In early 2022, suspected far-left saboteurs also targeted a French power station and nine power lines over two nights, disrupting electricity to thousands of homes and a semiconductor manufacturing facility.
Days later, coordinated cuts to data cables caused internet outages in several French cities. Investigators said the effectiveness of the sabotage suggested the perpetrators may have “known the network”.
The German investigation now centers on whether Daniel V acted alone, whether he is linked to any wider organization and whether other attacks on the electrical grid remain undiscovered.
Unlike earlier incidents relying primarily on arson or cutting communications cables, the latest alleged attacks introduced a different method aimed directly at high-voltage infrastructure surrounding major power plants.
Authorities are also examining the political claims contained in the suspect’s alleged manifesto and whether those statements accurately reflect the motivation behind the attacks.
For now, German officials have confirmed an arrest and the recovery of explosives while investigators continue assessing the full extent of the sabotage campaign and whether additional people were involved.
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