(BERLIN, GERMANY) – A significant power outage has struck the southwestern area of Berlin, affecting tens of thousands of residents and businesses. Authorities attribute the disruption to an arson attack carried out by the leftwing extremist group known as Vulkangruppe. The incident has left approximately 45000 households and over 2200 commercial facilities without electricity, highlighting vulnerabilities in the city’s infrastructure.
The outage began on Saturday morning when a fire damaged essential power lines on a cable bridge spanning the Teltow Canal. This bridge connects to the Lichterfelde power plant, a key component of Berlin’s energy supply. The deliberate act of sabotage led to immediate and widespread loss of power across the affected region.
According to reports from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the arson has impacted daily life for many Berliners. Emergency services and utility teams have been working to restore services, with power returned to about 7000 consumers by Sunday. Efforts continue to bring electricity back to the remaining affected areas as quickly as possible.
This event echoes a recent incident in Russia, where a largescale blackout occurred in Domodedovo on December 31. Residents there reportedly lost access to light, water and heating. Officials claim the cause was a power surge leading to system failure, though such explanations from Russian authorities often warrant scrutiny given past inconsistencies in reporting infrastructure issues under the regime of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
