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Germany summoned the Russian ambassador to the Foreign Ministry in Berlin on Friday to protest what it described as a sharp increase in Moscow’s hybrid activities, including cyberattacks targeting the air traffic control system in summer 2024 and a disinformation campaign during the Bundestag elections.
A Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the August 2024 attack on Germany’s air surveillance systems was clearly linked to the Russian hacking group “Fancy Bear,” adding that intelligence confirmed the Russian military intelligence service was responsible.
He noted that Russia sought through the “Storm 1516” campaign to influence the recent general elections, destabilize them, and interfere in the internal affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany. Reliable information indicated that organizations backed by Russian military intelligence were behind the campaign.
The campaign, launched in 2024, aimed to influence Western elections and focused ahead of the German vote on figures such as Robert Habeck, former economy minister from the Greens, and Friedrich Merz, leader of the CDU and current chancellor.
Two days before the snap elections on February 23, 2025, the German government announced that security agencies had detected fake videos alleging ballot manipulation as part of Russia’s disinformation campaign.
The spokesperson stressed that Russia “directly threatens our security, not only through its war against Ukraine but also through these attacks inside Germany.” He confirmed that the government, in coordination with European partners, would take countermeasures “to show that Russia will pay a price for this hybrid behavior.” Berlin has observed a growing trend of hybrid threats from Russia for some time.
Sources - Agencies
