Germany summons Russian envoy over cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns

On December 12, the German Foreign Ministry summoned Russia’s ambassador, Sergey Nechayev, over a series of cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns that Berlin says are the responsibility of Moscow, TASS reported.

"This morning we summoned the Russian ambassador to the German Foreign Ministry and made it clear that we are closely monitoring Russia’s actions and are taking measures in response," the spokesperson said at a briefing in Berlin.

According to the Ministry official, Russia’s unacceptable behaviour will have consequences.

He added that the disinformation campaign, codenamed “Storm‑1516,” aimed to destabilise the situation in the country.

As part of the campaign, false materials were spread through numerous websites disguised as news outlets. The information was most often directed against the CDU/CSU and the Greens.

Among the fabrications was a video featuring a man claiming to be a doctor, who asserted that the CDU leader, then the prospective chancellor candidate Friedrich Merz, had undergone treatment three years earlier for serious mental health issues.

The video also included forged documents to support these claims.

They also spread a fabricated story about an alleged €100 million corruption scandal involving a Green Party politician, then Vice-Chancellor Robert Habeck, and Ukrainian politicians.

A few days before the vote, a false claim began circulating that there had been interference with postal voting documents – in one Leipzig district, voters were allegedly sent ballots that omitted the Alternative for Germany (AfD) from the list.

It was previously reported that, in response to the rising threat of hybrid attacks, particularly from Russia, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is seeking to expand its powers.

Germany’s military intelligence has also warned of an increasing threat from espionage and sabotage.

By Aghakazim Guliyev