January 26, 2026
German authorities have announced a €1 million reward for information that leads to the arrest of those responsible for an arson attack on high-voltage power cables in south-west Berlin on January 3. The sabotage plunged roughly 45,000 households into darkness and cut heating during sub-zero temperatures; full reconnection took more than four days, the longest citywide blackout in Berlin since World War II.
Berlin’s Interior Senator Iris Spranger (SPD) has labeled the incident terrorism. Investigators suspect left-wing militants may be responsible, but no arrests have been made. The assault has raised urgent questions about the security of critical infrastructure and the city’s ability to respond to major crises.
The outage exposed weaknesses in power distribution and prompted calls for stronger protection of essential assets such as power grids, pipelines and data cables. Speaking at the North Sea Summit in Hamburg, Germany’s Economy Minister Katherina Reiche stressed the need to both expand and better secure infrastructure. She pointed to Russia’s war in Ukraine and other recent developments as evidence of growing risks, and welcomed a heightened NATO presence at the summit as recognition of the issue’s scale.
The blackout sharpened resilience debates ahead of the summit, where European nations pledged major investments in offshore wind and energy interconnections aimed at reducing reliance on fossil-fuel imports. The summit agreement foresees cooperative projects to deliver up to 100 gigawatts of offshore capacity and includes commitments to bolster the security and reliability of energy systems.
Local and national officials across Germany have urged stepped-up protective measures for critical infrastructure. Authorities say the reward is intended to speed up leads and bring those behind the attack to justice, while officials and residents alike warn of the serious human consequences when such strikes occur amid extreme winter weather.