Suspected Left-Extremist Arson Destroys Six Telekom Cars in Berlin-Lichtenberg, Claim of Responsibility Cites Armaments Projects

Incident

At approximately 1:50 a.m. on Monday, a passerby noticed flames on the enclosed premises of a Deutsche Telekom facility on Landsberger Allee in Berlin's Lichtenberg district, near the Alt-Hohenschönhausen area. The witness immediately alerted the Berlin fire department. Responding crews found six company vehicles fully ablaze on the lot. The fire department dispatched two water tender vehicles and a tank truck to the scene, and managed to extinguish all six fires. No one was injured. Police were informed by the fire department shortly after 2 a.m., and patrol officers arrived to secure the area. The affected cars, identified as fleet vehicles belonging to Telekom, were completely destroyed. Authorities have not yet released an estimate of the financial damage. Criminal investigators from the state criminal police (Landeskriminalamt) took samples from the scene to test for traces of accelerants, a standard procedure in suspected arson cases. The investigation was handed over to a dedicated arson unit within the LKA.

Claim of responsibility

Later on Monday, around midday, a statement claiming responsibility for the attack was published on a notorious left-wing extremist website. The posting included a photograph of the burned-out vehicles and aimed criticism at Deutsche Telekom for its announced involvement in defense projects. The message asserted that "all of this shall not remain uncommented," and boasted that the group had "relieved the company's fleet in Berlin Alt-Hohenschönhausen of six vehicles last night." The text framed the arson as a direct action against the corporation's burgeoning ties to the arms industry. Police, who had initially not ruled out a political motive, subsequently labeled the incident a suspected politically motivated crime attributable to left-wing extremists.

Investigation and union reaction

The Berlin branch of the German police union (GdP) reacted with scorn. In a social media post, the union wrote:

“Right after waking up, the doomsday conspiracy theorists have once again cobbled together a pamphlet and published it on the notoriously known platform to justify this senseless nonsense.”

The arson unit of the LKA continues to lead the investigation on suspicion of arson. No arrests have been made, and the perpetrators remain at large. Police have not disclosed whether the claim of responsibility provides any clues to the identity of the group involved.