Police search is underway for attempts to sabotage substations

After attempts to sabotage substations in several federal states, the police are still searching for a suspect who has confessed to the crimes in two letters. A spokeswoman for the Cologne police confirmed this morning that “the manhunt situation” was continuing.

The suspect is a 48-year-old man from Gevelsberg near Hagen in the Ruhr area, as North Rhine-Westphalia's Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) announced.

In two letters, the man claimed responsibility for attempted attacks on the power grid around the Jänschwalde and Schwarze Pumpe power plants in Brandenburg, and he also claimed responsibility for attacks on the power supply in Gohr, Bergheim-Rheidt, Dormagen and Weisweiler, all in North Rhine-Westphalia. According to Reul, the letters of confession contain information about the perpetrators that has not been publicly disclosed.

Also in Saxony there are explosive devices near transformer stations

In the letters, the 48-year-old cited the “fight against fossil fuels” as the reason for the acts of sabotage. The attempted attacks are concentrated on North Rhine-Westphalia, Brandenburg and most recently Saxony. Brown coal is still mined and converted into electricity in all three federal states.

In Saxony, explosive devices were found near two substations. According to the police, the information about these devices also came from a letter of confession that was received by the police on Thursday.

Dobrindt denounces “climate extremism”.

After the suspect's apartment was searched on Friday, where the emergency services were able to seize explosives, the suspect's car was later discovered in the Hambacher Forest. It was a truck that had been converted into a mobile home. But the man himself was not caught during any of the operations.

It has not yet been confirmed that the suspect is actually responsible for one or more of the attempted attacks. In addition to a possible left-wing extremist motive, according to Reul, “sabotage controlled by a foreign state” cannot be ruled out.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt spoke of “climate extremism” in connection with the sabotage at substations. The CSU politician emphasized that further attack scenarios of this kind could be expected in Germany.