Germany accused Russia of cyberattacking air traffic control and attempting to interfere in the election and recalled its ambassador.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said Russian military intelligence was behind the “cyberattack on German air traffic control in August 2024.”
The spokesman also accused Russia of trying to influence and destabilize the Russian federal elections in February this year.
He said Germany would work closely with its European partners to respond with countermeasures that would make Russia “pay for its hybrid behavior.”
There was no immediate reaction from Russia.
The spokesperson said the August 2024 cyberattack may have been the work of the Fancy Bear Russian hacker group.
“Our intelligence findings establish that the Russian military intelligence service GRU is responsible for this attack,” he added.
The Ministry of Defense said it was now clear that Moscow had 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 called Storm 1516.
The campaign is said to have focused in part on Green Party leadership candidate Robert Habeck and CDU leadership candidate Friedrich Merz, who currently holds the position of chancellor.
The German government said its security services had identified a fake video claiming ballot manipulation as part of a Russian disinformation effort days before the election.
Fancy Bear previously leaked World Anti-Doping Agency data and reportedly played a key role in a 2016 cyberattack against the US Democratic National Committee, according to security experts.
The accusation comes amid heightened concerns in Europe over suspected Russian cyberattacks after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Moscow has yet to respond to the latest claims, but has previously denied European claims of Russian sabotage or hybrid campaigns.
