06.01.2026 01:00
Three days have passed since the sabotage of the energy infrastructure in Berlin, the capital of Germany, on January 3rd. After the attack claimed by the far-left Volkan Group, the southwest of the city remains in darkness. Tens of thousands of Berliners have spent 72 hours without electricity and water in freezing cold, and the earliest indication for life to return to normal is pointed to Thursday.
The capital of Germany, Berlin, is battling darkness as it enters the third day following a sabotage targeting its energy infrastructure. After the attack claimed by the far-left Volkan Group, tens of thousands of people in the southwest of the city are struggling to survive without electricity and water in freezing cold, while officials indicate that normalization may not occur until Thursday at the earliest.
CRISIS UNRESOLVED FOR 72 HOURS
On the third day of the outage, the scale of the crisis has worsened. While some households in Lichterfelde have been restored electricity, over 30,000 homes and 700 businesses in the districts of Zehlendorf, Nikolassee, and Wannsee remain without power. Under the "Large-Scale Emergency" (Grossschadenlage) declared by the state administration, gymnasiums have been converted into shelters, and thousands have spent the night under blankets.
"WE ARE WAITING FOR DAYLIGHT UNDER BLANKETS"
The local population, who have been unable to find hot water and heating for three days, has reached a breaking point. A citizen named Herrmann, who received hot water assistance from a supermarket, expressed his frustration, saying, "The problem is not at night, but during the day. There has been no electricity for 3 days, no hot water, and cooking is impossible. The information is insufficient; they tell us to 'follow online' when there is no internet."
Kerstin Müller, whose home temperature has dropped to 14 degrees and who has taken refuge with her 2-year-old son among friends, described the ongoing uncertainty as "trauma" and stated, "Nothing is working. We are afraid of looting and pipes bursting. This is a terrorist attack."
CITY PARALYZED: EVEN TRAFFIC LIGHTS ARE OUT
On the third day of the power outage, supermarkets and bakeries in the area are still closed. While some stores are trying to operate with generators, the non-functioning traffic lights are also jeopardizing transportation. In the streets where Civil Defense (THW) and police patrol with vehicles, the only means of communication, mobile phones, are being charged at a limited number of points that offer charging options.
VOLKAN GROUP CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE SABOTAGE
The magnitude of the damage is due to the deliberate cutting of cables. The far-left Volkan Group (Vulkan Gruppe), which claimed responsibility for the attack, announced that they intentionally plunged southwest Berlin into darkness.
FULL CAPACITY MAY BE REACHED ON JANUARY 8
Officials emphasized that repairs are being carried out meticulously, but full capacity electricity may only be restored on Thursday, January 8.
WHAT HAPPENED?
On the morning of January 3, Saturday, a fire broke out in the southwest of Berlin, affecting the main electricity distribution station in Lichterfelde in the Teltow region. Due to damaged transmission lines, it was announced that approximately 45,000 households and over 2,000 businesses in the neighborhoods of Nikolassee, Wannsee, Zehlendorf, and Lichterfelde would not have electricity until Thursday, January 8. Patients remaining in hospitals in the area, where telephone lines and electric heating systems were also non-functional due to the outage, were transferred to other clinics.