BERLIN – In a significant diplomatic escalation, Germany summoned the Russian ambassador on Friday, accusing Moscow of a campaign of sabotage, cyberattacks, and direct interference in its democratic processes, the German foreign ministry stated.
The move follows conclusive intelligence attributing a major August 2024 cyberattack on Germany’s air traffic control system to the Russian state. “We can now clearly attribute the cyberattack against German Air Safety in August 2024 to the hacker collective APT28, also known as Fancy Bear,” the foreign ministry announced. The group is widely linked to Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU.
Furthermore, Berlin stated it can now “definitively state” that Moscow attempted to influence the previous federal elections, constituting unacceptable meddling in Germany’s domestic affairs. “Russia is thus very specifically threatening our security,” the ministry’s statement read, adding that such hybrid actions aim to “divide our society and systematically undermine trust in our state institutions.”
Disinformation and Election Sabotage
Security agencies documented a parallel, targeted disinformation campaign during the snap federal elections in February 2025. The operation is attributed to the Russia-linked group known as Storm-1516, which Western experts describe as a state-controlled propaganda arm.
“We can now state definitively that Russia, through the Storm-1516 campaign, sought to influence and destabilise the most recent federal election,” the ministry confirmed.
The group allegedly spread fabricated narratives about leading German politicians. One prominent false claim implicated former Green Party lead candidate Robert Habeck in a multi-million euro corruption scandal with alleged Ukrainian officials—an accusation for which no evidence exists.
Storm-1516 also circulated manipulated videos alleging widespread postal vote fraud. One clip falsely purported to show ballot papers from a Leipzig constituency missing the right-wing Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. Leipzig authorities swiftly denounced the material as part of a targeted disinformation campaign. The group, active since at least 2023 and suspected of interference in the 2024 U.S. election, significantly ramped up its activities ahead of the February polls.
Coordinated Response Pledged
In response to these “hybrid actions,” Germany vowed a firm and coordinated transatlantic response. The foreign ministry declared that Germany “would take a series of countermeasures to make Russia pay a price for its hybrid actions in close coordination with our European partners.” This includes pushing for new EU-level sanctions specifically targeting individuals and entities involved in hybrid warfare.
According to German media, Russian Ambassador Sergey Nechayev has already concluded his talks at the foreign ministry in Berlin. The Russian embassy has not issued any public comment on the allegations or the diplomatic demarche.
The confrontation underscores growing European alarm over Russia’s use of cyber and information warfare to destabilize democracies, setting the stage for a potential new round of diplomatic and economic sanctions from Berlin and its EU allies.
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