Germany has accused Russia of conducting a cyber-attack on its air traffic control system and attempting to interfere in its elections, prompting the summoning of the Russian ambassador.
A spokesperson from Germany’s foreign ministry stated that Russian military intelligence was responsible for a “cyber-attack on German air traffic control in August 2024.” The spokesperson also alleged that Russia aimed to influence and destabilize the federal election held in February of this year.
These latest allegations arise amid growing concerns across Europe regarding suspected Russian cyber-attacks since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In response, Russia has “categorically denied” the accusations, labeling them as “absurd.”
“The claims regarding the involvement of Russian state entities in these incidents and in the activities of hacker groups are unfounded, baseless, and absurd,” stated Russia’s embassy in Berlin in a message to reporters.
Germany’s foreign ministry indicated that Berlin, in close collaboration with its European allies, would implement countermeasures to ensure that Russia “faces consequences for its hybrid actions.”
Over the past year, both the UK and Romania have accused Russia of interfering in their domestic matters, including targeting organizations that provide foreign aid to Ukraine and influencing presidential elections.
The spokesperson mentioned that the August 2024 cyber-attack on Germany could be linked to the Fancy Bear hacker group from Russia.
“Our intelligence findings confirm that the Russian military intelligence service GRU is responsible for this attack,” he added.
The spokesperson also noted that it is now clear that Moscow attempted to “influence and destabilize both the last federal election and the ongoing internal affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany” through a disinformation campaign known as Storm 1516.
This campaign reportedly targeted key candidates, including Robert Habeck from the Green Party and Friedrich Merz from the CDU, who is now the chancellor.
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The German government stated that its security agencies had identified fake videos alleging ballot manipulation as part of a Russian disinformation strategy just days before the election.
Germany’s air navigation service provider confirmed that its office communications were hacked in August 2024, although it stated that flight operations were not impacted.
Fancy Bear has previously been linked to the leaking of data from the World Anti-Doping Agency and played a significant role in the 2016 cyber-attack on the US Democratic National Committee, according to security experts.
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia has significantly strained relations between Berlin and Moscow.
Germany has become one of Ukraine’s most prominent supporters, providing military, financial, and diplomatic assistance to Kyiv.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has strongly advocated for the use of frozen Russian assets to aid in the protection of Ukraine.
