‘Turn off the juice of the rulers!’ Who are the Volcano Group, mystery saboteurs behind a five-day Berlin blackout?
The Guardian
Overall Assessment
The article investigates a major act of sabotage with depth and a range of credible sources, balancing mystery with political and ideological analysis. It avoids overt editorializing but subtly frames the perpetrators as reckless rather than principled. The narrative emphasizes uncertainty and identity over systemic critique, though it acknowledges complexity within the left-wing scene.
"arson attack on two pylons"
Euphemism
Headline & Lead 75/100
The headline draws attention effectively but uses slightly sensationalist language ('mystery saboteurs') that could predispose readers to view the actors as inherently illegitimate or dangerous, though the body later provides more nuance.
✕ Loaded Labels: The headline uses the term 'mystery saboteurs' which frames the actors as shadowy and morally suspect, potentially biasing the reader before the facts are fully presented.
"‘Turn off the juice of the rulers!’ Who are the Volcano Group, mystery saboteurs behind a five-day Berlin blackout?"
Language & Tone 82/100
The tone is largely objective and descriptive, though occasional dismissive language toward the perpetrators' ideology slightly undermines neutrality.
✕ Loaded Verbs: The use of 'set fire to' instead of a more neutral term like 'damaged' assigns clear agency and moral judgment, reinforcing the illegality and destructiveness of the act.
"someone had set fire to five high-voltage cables"
✕ Loaded Language: Phrases like 'rambling blog post' and 'spleen and non sequiturs' dismiss the Volcano Group's statement as irrational, undermining its ideological seriousness.
"less a manifesto than a rambling blog post, full of spleen and non sequiturs"
✕ Passive-Voice Agency Obfuscation: The article generally avoids passive constructions that obscure agency, clearly attributing actions to perpetrators, which supports accountability.
✕ Euphemism: The term 'arson attack' is used directly rather than softened, maintaining journalistic clarity and avoiding euphemism.
"arson attack on two pylons"
Balance 88/100
The article achieves strong source balance by incorporating diverse, named experts and stakeholders with differing viewpoints, enhancing credibility.
✓ Comprehensive Sourcing: The article draws on a wide range of credible sources including technicians, hospital directors, academics, government officials, and activists, providing multiple perspectives.
✓ Viewpoint Diversity: It includes voices from across the political spectrum — from Green MPs to AfD representatives, from radical activists to counter-extremism researchers — ensuring ideological breadth.
✓ Proper Attribution: Claims are consistently attributed to named individuals or institutions, avoiding vague assertions.
"Hendrik Hansen, professor of political extremism at Germany’s Federal University of Applied Administrative Sciences"
Story Angle 78/100
The story is framed around uncovering the identity and motives of the Volcano Group, which creates a compelling narrative but centers mystery over structural analysis.
✕ Narrative Framing: The story is framed as a mystery — 'who are the Volcano Group?' — which drives the narrative but risks oversimplifying a complex issue into a detective story.
"Who are the Volcano Group, mystery saboteurs behind a five-day Berlin blackout?"
✕ Framing by Emphasis: The article emphasizes the confusion and uncertainty surrounding the perpetrators, focusing on identity and motive rather than systemic vulnerabilities in infrastructure.
✕ Conflict Framing: While conflict is present (state vs. saboteurs, left vs. right interpretations), the article treats it as part of a broader investigative narrative rather than flattening it into a binary.
Completeness 90/100
The article delivers rich context on the Volcano Group’s history and ideology but assumes some regional knowledge and omits broader policy trends.
✓ Contextualisation: The article provides extensive historical context about past Volcano Group attacks, ideological evolution, and connections to broader extremist movements.
"There have been at least seven 'Volcano Group' attacks in and around Berlin since 2011"
✕ Missing Historical Context: The piece assumes familiarity with German political extremism (e.g., RAF) without fully explaining its significance to international readers.
"Despite having disbanded in the late 1990s, the group, also known as the Red Army Faction (RAF), still casts a heavy shadow over the German psyche."
✕ Cherry-Picked Timeframe: The focus is tightly on the 2026 event and immediate aftermath, with no mention of longer-term trends in eco-sabotage or infrastructure security debates beyond Berlin.
Portrays the public as under threat due to infrastructure sabotage
The article emphasizes the prolonged blackout, vulnerability of hospitals, and distress of elderly residents, framing civilian safety as severely compromised.
"Some older residents had to be moved to emergency accommodation, and local TV news was filled with people angry at the lack of information and the way the authorities had handled the situation."
Portrays law enforcement as ineffective in solving repeated acts of sabotage
Repeated emphasis on lack of arrests, stalled investigations, and broad raids without outcomes frames state institutions as failing to deliver security.
"Not a single arrest has been made in connection with any of the attacks."
Frames Russia as a potential adversary through speculation about Russian authorship
The article presents unverified theories about Russian involvement and AI-generated confessions, introducing geopolitical suspicion without conclusive evidence.
"Reddit threads appeared where people reverse-engineered the text through AI translation programmes and declared it had originally been written in Russian."
Marginalizes radical left actors by associating them with illegitimate violence
The term 'mystery saboteurs' and descriptions like 'rambling blog post' delegitimize the actors ideologically, distancing them from mainstream political discourse.
"‘Turn off the juice of the rulers!’ Who are the Volcano Group, mystery saboteurs behind a five-day Berlin blackout?"
Implies environmental sabotage harms public trust and legitimacy of climate movement
While not rejecting climate concerns, the article frames sabotage as counterproductive and damaging to public support, using Müller’s regretful tone to underscore this.
"‘This act was indefensible,’ he tells me."
The article investigates a major act of sabotage with depth and a range of credible sources, balancing mystery with political and ideological analysis. It avoids overt editorializing but subtly frames the perpetrators as reckless rather than principled. The narrative emphasizes uncertainty and identity over systemic critique, though it acknowledges complexity within the left-wing scene.
A five-day power outage in Berlin following the sabotage of high-voltage cables has been claimed by a group calling itself the Volcano Group. Authorities have not made arrests, and experts debate whether the act was eco-sabotage, a false flag, or ideologically motivated. The incident has sparked debate over infrastructure security and the boundaries of political protest.
The Guardian — Conflict - Europe
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