Tuesday, March 24
Searches are currently underway in Berlin as police raid several venues, including apartments and institutions, in connection with the attack on the power grid in Adlershof in September 2025, which they believe was done in the name of ‘left-wing extremism’. It is happening in Wedding, Prenzlauer Berg, Neukölln and Kreuzberg, among other neighbourhoods.
Similar raids are taking place in other areas of Germany, including Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia, with members of emergency forces examining a total of 17 objects, 14 of them in Berlin. According to the Berlin police, the raids are being conducted on suspicion of unconstitutional sabotage, the formation of a criminal organisation and the arson attack two overhead masts on September 9, 2025 in Berlin-Johannisthal. Investigations, in particular evaluations of the evidence found, are therefore ongoing.
It is in connection with the arson attack that took place in Adlershof in September last year, when around 45,000 households and businesses were left without electricity. The blackout lasted about 60 hours. Until the attack on the power grid this January in Lichterfelde, it was the longest power outage in Berlin since World War II.
“Today’s searches show that we follow every hint with the highest priority. Anyone who attacks our critical infrastructure attacks the security of our entire city. We will not accept that,” Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) told the Tagesspiegel. “Our security authorities are acting decisively and in accordance with the rule of law in order to clarify the background of the attack on the power grid without gaps and to avert possible further dangers.”
