Claim of Responsibility:

Letter Claiming Responsibility for Attack on Substation

A letter claiming responsibility for the attack on a substation in Brandenburg has now surfaced, as confirmed by the police.(Bild: EPA/CLEMENS BILAN)

Since Thursday, new clues have emerged regarding who might be behind the attack on a substation in Brandenburg. German authorities suspect an act of sabotage or even terrorism, and now a letter claiming responsibility has surfaced. 

The authenticity of the letter is currently being verified and is the subject of the investigation, police announced Thursday evening. For tactical reasons related to the investigation, no further details were provided.

German media quoted from the letter, which is said to have been sent to the police by mail: “Generating electricity from fossil fuels is a crime that causes unspeakable suffering.” The “taz” reported, citing official sources, that the letter is said to be handwritten and that a lone perpetrator claims responsibility for the act of sabotage. 

No Major Power Outage
During Tuesday’s attack on a substation near the Jänschwalde power plant, unknown perpetrators attempted to trigger a short circuit and a widespread power outage using homemade projectiles.

To do so, they fired conductive material into the substation. As a result, one power plant unit briefly shut down, but a major power outage was prevented.

“Threat to Critical Infrastructure”
Nevertheless, the German Interior Ministry warned on Thursday that there is currently a high risk to critical infrastructure: “In principle, however, operators are responsible for protecting their respective facilities,” said a spokesperson. Federal security agencies are supporting the companies in this effort.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution informs potentially affected parties, among other things, by providing security guidelines for the business community. This is supplemented by regular security briefings and discussions with individual industries. In these sessions, the authorities also outline the current threat posed by sabotage.

No Specific Guidelines for Operators Yet
However, specific guidelines for operators have not yet been issued. The Kritis Umbrella Act, which took effect in March 2026, establishes—for the first time—nationwide and cross-sectoral minimum requirements for the physical protection of critical infrastructure. The German federal government has not yet presented the necessary implementing regulations. When asked, the Ministry of the Interior did not provide a timeline. “The federal government is working intensively on the implementation of the Kritis Framework Act,” the spokesperson explained.