German police have opened an investigation after 12 homemade explosive devices were discovered near high-voltage power lines and two electrical substations in eastern Germany. The devices were found on Friday following a tip-off from a member of the public, near the substations of Bärwalde, close to Bautzen, and Graustein, near Görlitz — both cities located in the state of Saxony, bordering Poland. Bomb disposal experts neutralised all devices without incident; the affected high-voltage lines were briefly taken offline as a precaution, but no damage was recorded and electricity supplies were not disrupted.
According to investigators, the devices were designed to cause short circuits and damage power lines. Authorities are now examining a possible link between these incidents and ongoing investigations in Brandenburg, in eastern Germany, and North Rhine-Westphalia in the west, where similar acts of sabotage against electrical installations have been recorded. Since Tuesday, a series of attacks or attempted attacks on energy infrastructure have been reported across different parts of the country. A 48-year-old man, described by German authorities as an "extremist" climate activist, is suspected of involvement and has sent two statements to media outlets claiming responsibility.
The incidents form part of a broader pattern of attacks on German energy infrastructure in recent months. In January, more than 100,000 people in Berlin were left without electricity after a fire at an electrical facility for which a radical left-wing group called Vulkangruppe claimed responsibility. That investigation remains ongoing.
Why this matters: Germany's critical infrastructure has faced repeated threats from multiple directions, raising alarm within NATO about what member states describe as a growing wave of "hybrid warfare." While the latest devices are linked to a domestic suspect, authorities have separately accused Russia of orchestrating a drone attack near Leipzig/Halle Airport — a major logistics hub used to transport military equipment for both the German armed forces and NATO — last August. The US ambassador to NATO called on Saturday for the alliance to show "zero tolerance" for deliberate hybrid warfare acts, pledging American solidarity with member states facing such threats. The convergence of domestic extremism and alleged state-sponsored sabotage is intensifying scrutiny of Germany's infrastructure vulnerabilities.