Far-Left Extremists Plunge Berlin into Blackout and Chaos

Far-Left Extremists Plunge Berlin into Blackout and Chaos

Berlin has suffered its worst its worst power cut in a quarter of a century. Around fifty thousand people were left without electricity, schools had to close, and care homes struggled to keep vulnerable residents safe. The perpetrators incite against capitalism and Israel, boasting that they had cut off the energy supply to a military-industrial complex.

English POLITIKA 2025. SZEPTEMBER 12. 17:27

South-eastern Berlin was thrown into turmoil. Far-left extremists claimed responsibility on the Indymedia platform for setting fire to two high-voltage pylons in Johannisthal. The group targeted the Adlershof technology park, one of Germany’s most important scientific and industrial hubs.

The attackers declared „they wanted to cut off the energy supply to the military-industrial complex”. In reality, they disrupted the lives of hundreds of thousands of Berlin residents.

The consequences of the attack were dramatic: tens of thousands of households, businesses, schools and care homes were intermittently left without electricity. Without power, there was no hot water, no trams, no traffic lights – everyday life ground to a halt.

Adlershof technology park was the target

The attackers chose the most symbolic site: Adlershof technology park, home to more than 1,300 research institutes and companies, including Siemens and the German Aerospace Centre (DLR).

“This kind of attack doesn’t just hit infrastructure, it puts human lives at risk,”

said Roland Sillmann, head of WISTA Management GmbH, which runs the Adlershof site.

Manufacturing firms are now planning to work through the weekend to make up at least part of their lost production, though the full extent of the damage is still unclear.

A bizarre claim of responsibility

The claim of responsibility posted on Indymedia reads like an manifesto of rage: a mix of anti-capitalist rhetoric, anti-Israel incitement, pompous metaphors and cynical self-promotion. The opening lines already sound like a bleak literary exercise: millions are forced “by the sharp beep of the alarm clock […] into monotony and apathy”. According to the perpetrators, behind the promise of neoliberal prosperity lurks “the fascist grimace”.

The authors rail against “capital, technology and war”, branding the companies and research institutes at Adlershof as “guarantors of the capitalist death machine” and hailing the blackout as a blow against the “military-industrial complex”.

Enemies named directly

Atos was targeted because the company not only provides IT services to the army and police but also runs a high-security data centre for Israeli security authorities. The text accused Atos of „complicity in war and genocide”.

Siemens is portrayed as the symbol of mega-industry – from nuclear submarines to dams. It is singled out in particular for its role in the EuroAsia Interconnector, linking Israel with Cyprus and Greece, and for projects in settlements in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Displaying a particularly cynical attitude, the perpetrators described the blackout that affected 50 thousand Berlin residents as “acceptable collateral damage”. At the end of their letter, they declared:

„Attacking critical infrastructure […] means sabotaging technological assault – cutting off the power supply to the military-industrial complex!”

An attack on democracy?

Berlin’s Interior Ministry condemned the incident as an attack on democracy. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) said:

„With the Kritis-Dachgesetz, the law regulating critical infrastructure, we will make Germany more resilient to crises and attacks.”

In the future, the law will oblige operators of critical infrastructure to comply with higher security standards, develop better emergency plans and fulfil reporting requirements.

„Such sabotage could be carried out anywhere in Germany without specialist knowledge,”

warned IT security expert Manuel Atug. The aim of such attacks is to destabilise the population.What is needed, he said, are redundancies, rapid-response repair teams and better emergency power supplies.

Cover photo: Illustration (AFP)

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