A recent investigation has uncovered that Russians were searching online details of the Mannheim stabbing attack even before it happened. The internet users were reportedly searching about far-right Islam activist Michael Stürzenberger, who was severely injured during the violent attack in Germany. This raises suspicion that the Russian government was already aware that such an attack was about to happen.
On May 31, 2024, a rejected Afghan asylum seeker went on a deadly stabbing rampage in the western city of Mannheim. The incident took place during a rally hosted by Islam critic group, Citizens’ Movement Pax Europa (BPE). 25-year-old Muslim Afghan national Sulaiman Ataee launched the violent attack against controversial activist Michael Stürzenberger, the main speaker at the rally. A total of six people were attacked, including a police officer who later succumbed to his injuries.
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The deadly attack came to a stop when another police officer shot at the attacker. He is now being tried for murder and dangerous bodily harm. The investigators described the incident as an act of ‘Islamic terrorism’.
The entire incident was livestreamed on YouTube by a third party. The footage showed that the suspect watched the scene for about 15 minutes before launching an attack on Stürzenberger as soon as the activist was on his own.
In a recent investigation by German broadcaster ZDF, it was found out that terms such as ‘Michael Stürzenberger stabbed’ and ‘Michael Stürzenberger attack’ were searched by Internet users in Russia even before the attack happened. It is now speculated if Moscow had prior knowledge that Stürzenberger would be stabbed during the rally.
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ZDF also discovered evidence of Russian users trying to access a webcam feed of Mannheim’s town square, the crime scene, moments before the attack happened. The feed would have thus allowed them to watch the stabbing incident in real-time. As it is suspected that Russian President Vladimir Putin was already aware of the attack, Former officer in Germany’s BND foreign intelligence service Gerhard Conrad highlighted his concerns.
“With this evidence I would say we certainly have here at least an initial suspicion in intelligence terms — not in prosecutorial terms, but an initial suspicion in intelligence terms — that we need to follow up,” he said, as reported by The Sun.
Konstantin von Notz, Green Party MP, also agreed to the suspicion and said that the online searches are grounds for an official investigation. He told ZDF, “I think it is quite obvious that these digital traces, and their examination and evaluation, are important building blocks in getting to the truth of what happened and in that respect they should be taken into account.”
It’s important to note that this is not an isolated incident. In fact, there has been an alarming rise in terror attacks within Germany. The Telegraph reported that Russia carried out “online research of fire protocols at a Berlin factory owned by a defence firm just before a suspected sabotage attack.”
The portal reported that the German authorities suspect that these terror attacks committed by foreigners ahead of the 2025 German elections were orchestrated by Russia, although there’s no substantial proof of it yet. In a short span, five attacks were carried out in Germany by foreign citizens. This includes attacks in the cities of Solingen, Mannheim, Magdeburg, Aschaffenburg and Munich.
