Germany Summons Russian Envoy Over Alleged Hybrid Attacks

Overview

• Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Giese said Germany has seen a significant rise in disinformation, espionage, cyberattacks and attempted sabotage attributed to Russian actors.
• Berlin confirmed it called in the Russian ambassador on December 12 and signaled it will take measures in response to the alleged activities.
• German officials said their attribution rests on extensive intelligence analysis and claimed they can clearly identify Moscow’s responsibility, though no public evidence was presented.
• Giese pointed to an August 2024 breach of Germany’s aviation security as a key case that intelligence links to hackers associated with Russian special services.
• After the meeting, Ambassador Sergey Nechaev rejected the accusations and said Berlin alleged APT28 targeted the air navigation authority DFS and that group Storm 1516 sought to influence the February 2025 Bundestag election through disinformation.