German special services: Russia tries to split German society

President of the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution Thomas Haldenwang has said that Russia is doing its best to split German society by spreading fake news among German citizens about gas shortages and rising food prices.

The country's special services fear that the Russian influence will intensify, Handelsblatt newspaper reports, referring to Haldenwang.

He noted that Russian agents are disseminating fake news to spread panic among the Germans, turn them against the current authorities and “drive a wedge into German society”.

“The problem is aggravating because Russia is using such tools as cyberattacks and disinformation as hybrid tools designed to split German society,” Haldenwang said.

He said the threat to the internal stability of Germany also comes from right-wing and left-wing extremists, supporters of conspiracy theories and Nazi ideology.