Germany admits possible foreign trace in arms cache near Berlin
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has said that a foreign state may be behind the arms cache discovered near Berlin. Investigators suspect that the hidden pistols and ammunition may have been intended for preparing terrorist attacks.
Dobrindt made the statement on August 21 while commenting on the investigation, reports AFP.
According to the minister, German intelligence services and police received anonymous information about a cache in a forest near Berlin. During a search they found two service pistols and ammunition.
Law enforcement did not immediately destroy the cache. The weapons were disabled, after which the site was placed under surveillance for a period of time: security forces hoped to identify the person who would come to retrieve the contents. However, no one came for the weapons.
"The discovered weapons, including the ammunition, were undoubtedly intended for carrying out terrorist plans", — Dobrindt stated.
However, the minister did not specify what exactly might have been chosen as the target for a potential attack.
He described the incident as another manifestation of a "hybrid threat" to Germany and stressed that at the current stage the involvement of a foreign state cannot be ruled out. Dobrindt did not name a specific country in his statement.
Suspect detained in Romania
The investigation was conducted with the participation of law enforcement agencies from several European countries and ultimately led to the detention of a suspect in Romania. According to Dobrindt, he is a so-called low-level agent — a person who may have been recruited to carry out individual tasks without access to complete information about the operation.
German prosecutors are investigating his possible involvement in preparing terrorist attacks and espionage. In Romania, the same individual also came to the attention of investigators in a case concerning possible preparation of attacks using parcel bombs.
German media previously reported that the cache had been discovered as early as late summer 2025 in a forest on the border of Berlin and Brandenburg. According to Welt, citing an investigation by NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, German security agencies are checking the possibility that the depot is connected with Russian intelligence services.
According to journalists, the weapons may have been placed in advance for agents who in the future would be tasked with so-called kinetic operations — actions involving physical violence, including sabotage or assassination. The formal attribution of the cache to Russian intelligence services has not yet been established.
The investigation is being conducted by the Federal Public Prosecutor General of Germany. Investigators are trying to establish who organized the weapons stash, who it was intended for, and whether there was a specific target for the presumed attack.
The case is being considered amid intensifying warnings by German authorities about hybrid operations on the country’s territory. In recent years Germany has been investigating a number of cases of espionage, sabotage and attempted attacks in which law enforcement or intelligence agencies are checking a possible Russian connection.
