Media reports say twenty-five people have been arrested in raids across Germany on suspicion of plotting to overthrow the government.
The group of far-right and ex-military figures are said to have prepared for a "Day X" to storm the Reichstag parliament building and seize power.
The BBC says a man named as Heinrich XIII, from an old aristocratic family, is alleged to have been central to their plans.
According to federal prosecutors, he is one of two alleged ringleaders among those arrested across 11 German states.
Al Jazeera says about 3,000 officers conducted the raids on Wednesday at 130 sites across 11 German federal states against adherents of the extremist Reichsburger [Citizens of the Reich] movement.
The Reichsburger movement has reportedly long been in the sights of German police over violent attacks and racist and antisemitic conspiracy theories.
movement members also refuse to recognize the modern German state.
According to Al Jazeera, prosecutors said that 22 arrested individuals were German citizens and were detained on suspicion of “membership in a terrorist organization” while three others allegedly supported the organization, including a Russian citizen.
The Kremlin said later on Wednesday there could be no question of any Russian involvement in the coup plot.
“This appears to be a German internal problem,” the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “There can be no question of any Russian interference.”
Other suspects reportedly came from the QAnon movement who believe their country is in the hands of a mythical “deep state” involving secret powers pulling the political strings.
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser reportedly assured Germans that authorities would respond with the full force of the law “against the enemies of democracy.”
Meanwhile, experts say the Reichsburger group isn’t new – it pre-dates the pandemic. But this audacious plot indicates increased commitment – and radicalization – which could go hand-in-hand with the growth of pandemic disinformation online.
