Two pieces of weapon in the woods caused an unprecedented panic in Germany: "We feared they were preparing an assassination".

Two pieces of firearms found in a forest near Berlin have triggered widespread panic in Germany, with officials warning that the discovery suggests preparations for a serious criminal act against the state. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt confirmed that two hand-held weapons and ammunition were discovered in a weapons cache close to the capital. The investigation into the incident has been taken over by the federal prosecutor’s office, which suspects the case could involve preparation of a severe crime against the state, according to Deutsche Welle. The suspect was detained last autumn in Romania and may be linked to the establishment of the weapon stash. In October of the previous year, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Germany's domestic intelligence agency) became aware of possible storage locations of arms on the outskirts of Berlin. This information led to the joint operation by members of the intelligence service and police who uncovered the hidden cache. According to reports from regional media outlets such as NDR and WDR, in collaboration with Süddeutsche Zeitung, German security agencies believe the weapons were left behind for agents acting under Russian orders to carry out “kinetic operations.” These terms refer to physical attacks, including potential terrorist acts. The cache was described as a so-called “dead drop” with potentially lethal contents. Dobrindt stated that the involvement of foreign forces in this case cannot be ruled out. Ongoing investigations might provide further insights into this possibility. He emphasized that the situation highlights the need to take high levels of threat seriously, noting that while it fits into scenarios of hybrid threats, there is no claim of connection to other recent incidents. The discovered weapons had been disabled and equipped with GPS devices. However, the cache remained under surveillance without success. It is possible that the perpetrators noticed the location had been exposed. The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution did not comment on the case when asked by NDR, WDR, and Süddeutsche Zeitung. Neither the Russian embassy responded to inquiries regarding the matter. According to research conducted by German media, secret weapon caches were part of the standard repertoire of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Such covert storage sites were used repeatedly in recent years, among other things, for contacts with spies living under false identities on the West. Deutsche Welle reports that these practices continue to be relevant in modern espionage activities.