Germany accuses Russia of interfering in elections and cyberattacks on airports
13 December 2025 06:08
German authorities have said that Russia has intensified hybrid attacks on the country’s critical infrastructure and will face consequences for this, including new sanctions, such as a travel ban and asset freezes on Russian citizens, Bloomberg reports, "Komersant Ukrainian".
In this regard, the German Foreign Ministry summoned Russian Ambassador Sergei Nechaev on Friday, December 12, the ministry said.
“Recently, we have seen a sharp increase in hybrid activity on the part of Russia, including disinformation and espionage campaigns, cyberattacks and sabotage attempts,” said the ministry’s spokesman Martin Giese.
According to him, the authorities have indisputable evidence of the Russian GRU’s involvement in two specific incidents related to a hacker attack on Germany’s air traffic control system (DFS) in August 2024, as well as interference in the February 2025 parliamentary elections.
According to the German authorities, the GRU-affiliated hacker group Storm-1516 tried to influence the voting results. To this end, the attackers distributed fake videos compromising politicians Friedrich Merz and Robert Habeck. Another group, APT 28, known as Fancy Bear, is behind the attack on the air security service, the agency believes.
Nechayev himself, according to a statement from the Russian Embassy in Germany, rejected the accusations that the Russian state was involved in the cyberattacks on DFS and interference in the Bundestag elections. Berlin’s allegations are unsubstantiated, unfounded and meaningless, the Russian diplomatic mission quoted Nechaev as saying.
