Secret weapons cache linked to Russia found near Berlin

German intelligence agencies believe that a secret weapons cache discovered near Berlin may have been set up at the behest of Russian intelligence services for carrying out violent operations, including possible assassinations.

This is reported in a joint investigation by Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR.

The cache was found back in late summer 2025 in a wooded area on the border of Berlin and the federal state of Brandenburg. German security officials received specific information about the location of the cache and found two short-barreled combat weapons there.

According to the journalists, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution of Germany (BfV) now assumes that the cache belonged to a Russian intelligence service. Investigators believe the weapons could have been prepared for so-called kinetic operations - acts involving violence, including possible assassinations.

After the cache was discovered, law enforcement did not immediately dismantle it. The weapons were secretly disabled, while the cache itself was left in place and put under surveillance, in the hope of identifying the people who would come for it. However, nobody showed up.

German law enforcement believes that the organizers may have noticed the activity of security forces near the cache and realized that it had been discovered. Security services now consider the cache effectively inactive.

Meanwhile, the investigation has identified an alleged participant in the operation. The suspect had previously been arrested in Romania. Investigators believe that he was the one who may have set up the underground weapons cache.

The case has been handled by the Federal Public Prosecutor General of Germany since November 2025. The investigation is being conducted on suspicion of preparation of a serious violent crime endangering state security. Officially, the BfV does not comment on specific details of the case.

The Russian embassy did not respond to journalists' request regarding possible involvement of Russian intelligence services in the cache.