German police detain substation sabotage suspect near a power plant with explosive devices in his possession and bombs in a nearby tent

German police have apprehended Daniel V., a 48-year-old German national, on suspicion of sabotaging multiple electrical substations throughout the country. The arrest occurred near the Weisweiler power plant, close to Aachen, when traffic officers stopped V. for a routine document check. When confronted, V. attempted to escape, but he did not resist arrest from the officers, as reported by Bild’s Russian-language Telegram channel.

Following a series of letters identifying Daniel V. as the sender, German authorities had been actively searching for him across Europe for several days. The letters claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on electrical substations in Germany, stating, "Generating electricity from fossil fuels is a crime." The letters contained the alleged perpetrator's complete address in North Rhine-Westphalia, which led investigators to connect V. to the crimes. Police also discovered explosives during a search of his residence in Gevelsberg.

V. is currently suspected of being responsible for sabotage at electrical substations located in Jänschwalde, near Berlin; Bergheim, near Cologne; and Dormagen, near Düsseldorf. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt declared on Friday that the attacks were most likely an act of "climate terrorism" perpetrated by a single individual.

Saxony’s Interior Minister, Armin Schuster, expressed caution on Tuesday, stating that the motive remained uncertain and that V. might have been acting on behalf of someone else. Earlier, officials had contemplated the possibility that "foreign powers" were behind the incident in Brandenburg, following sabotage at Leipzig Airport, which Germany attributes to Russian agents.

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