Multi-day power outage for 45,000 Berlin homes after suspected arson attack

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/03/berlin-power-outage-hits-homes-suspected-arson-attack

by croemer • 7 months ago

36 19 7 months ago

croemer• 7 months ago

Single point of failure and 45k people are without power for multiple days.

toast0• 7 months ago

Very few electric customers are served by more than one substation, that substation and the distribution wiring between the substation and the customer are going to be a SPOF, except for the few customers with access to multiple substations.

Some substations don't have redundant feeder power either, although that's more often the case where geography makes it difficult (islands/peninsulas)... But the mention of wiring on a bridge might be an indication that is a geographically difficult area of Berlin?

csomar2• 7 months ago

Most infrastructure is fragile and is one step away from going down. It basically can’t operate without the assumption that people won’t mess it up.

1718627440• 7 months ago

This. Infrastructure as does the whole society, relies on trust.

darubedarob• 7 months ago

Ideology driven dark ages, one has to embrace these fits of madness burning itself out.

amadeuspagel• 7 months ago

Germany has been on high alert for sabotage activities directed at its infrastructure, including from foreign actors such as Russia.

This sentence kind of implies that foreign actors committed the attack, but a leftist group took credit for it[1].

[1] https://www.rbb24.de/panorama/beitrag/2026/01/berlin-suedwes...

throw202512204• 7 months ago

A leftist group cannot be sponsored by Russia?

Steven420• 7 months ago

How much sponsorship does it take to commit arson?

immibis• 7 months ago

Why would they be? Russia doesn't tend to fund leftist groups. If they're actually a leftist group, it's far more likely to be about Palestine and of their own accord, or because of direct government oppression against them.

Last time I knew of an attack like this in Berlin, it was a direct retaliation after the government attacked their house with military tanks.

UltraSane• 7 months ago

This is exactly how Russia operates inside Europe.

throw202512204• 7 months ago

20 years in prison for everyone responsible should quickly sort this out. This is sabotage regardless of the motive.

mindslight• 7 months ago

How will 20 year prison sentences get the power back on ("sort this out") ? Do you think 20n man-years of prisoner labor can install a new cable in the blink of an eye? Will the prisoners be forced to build a time machine so someone can go back and thwart their plans? Or how else do you envision this happening?

jojomodding• 7 months ago

20 years in prison is what you get for murder and even then only when you also fail your first parole hearing.

Which is a good thing. Few people deserve that long in prison.

throw202512204• 7 months ago

Yeah yeah. And for printing your own dollars.

tim-tday• 7 months ago

Pretty sure arson carries a hefty prison term. And terrorism.

csomar2• 7 months ago

If 20 people die because of the freezing weather, would life be justifiable then?

johannesberlin• 7 months ago

sure let’s waste more millions on incarcerating people

Multi-day power outage for 45,000 Berlin homes after suspected arson attack

Related Stories