(Adnkronos) – Homemade explosive devices have been found near a power plant in eastern Germany, close to the Polish border. Brandenburg police told AFP. “They did not explode, no one was injured, and we had no problems with electricity supply,” a police spokeswoman said, adding, however, that “material damage” was detected to a pipeline at an electrical substation.
Several power lines were damaged and power supply was briefly interrupted, police and a grid operator reported. Around 8 AM (6 AM GMT), several homemade devices were found at the Preilack substation, which distributes energy produced by the nearby Jänschwalde power plant, a police spokeswoman told AFP. At least one of the devices exploded, while the others failed to detonate, the spokeswoman said, adding that no one was injured and no significant blackout occurred in the area, located about 100 kilometers southeast of Berlin.
The plant operator, Leag, stated in a press release that “an attack was carried out” at the substation. The company also reported a “technical fault” in a power plant unit, specifying that an investigation is underway to verify a possible connection with the incident. The grid operator stated that unidentified individuals damaged several lines of its network. “A brief service interruption occurred. All lines are now operational again. The general electricity supply is not currently affected,” the company said in a statement. The police spokeswoman reported that an investigation has been launched to identify those responsible for the incident.
Recently, several arson attacks have occurred in and around Berlin, often claimed by far-left militants. In January, a blackout left tens of thousands of homes and thousands of businesses without electricity for almost a week, in the middle of winter, in the southwest of the German capital. The far-left group ‘Vulkangruppe’ (Volcano Group) had claimed responsibility for the arson attack against high-voltage cables that caused that blackout. The same group had also claimed responsibility for two sabotage attacks against a Tesla electric car factory located just outside Berlin. Germany, one of Ukraine’s main supporters in the war against Russia, is also on high alert for possible sabotage actions and espionage activities linked to Moscow.
