Germany has summoned Russia’s ambassador following accusations that Moscow carried out a cyber-attack on the country’s air traffic control systems and attempted to interfere in its February 2025 federal elections, marking a further deterioration in relations between the two countries.
A spokesperson for Germany’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Russian military intelligence was responsible for a cyber-attack on German air traffic control in August 2024.
Berlin also accused the Kremlin of conducting a wider campaign to influence and destabilise the 2025 federal elections.
According to German intelligence findings, the cyber-attack was traced to Fancy Bear, a hacking group widely linked to Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Germany’s air navigation service later confirmed that its office communication systems were breached, but said flight operations and air safety were not affected.
German authorities further alleged that Russia ran a coordinated disinformation campaign, known as Storm 1516, during the election period.
The operation reportedly involved fake videos and false claims of ballot manipulation and targeted senior political figures, including Green Party candidate Robert Habeck and CDU candidate Friedrich Merz, who later emerged as chancellor.
Russia has strongly denied the accusations.
In a statement to AFP, the Russian embassy in Berlin described the claims as “baseless, unfounded and absurd,” rejecting any involvement of Russian state institutions in cyber-attacks or election interference.
Germany’s Foreign Ministry said Berlin, in close coordination with its European partners, would respond with counter-measures aimed at making Russia “pay a price for its hybrid actions.”
Officials said the allegations align with similar warnings from countries such as the United Kingdom and Romania, which have also accused Moscow of meddling in their domestic affairs.
Fancy Bear has previously been linked to several major cyber incidents, including the 2016 breach of the US Democratic National Committee and the leak of confidential data from the World Anti-Doping Agency.
The latest accusations come amid long-standing tensions between Berlin and Moscow, which worsened significantly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Relations had already been strained by earlier incidents, including the 2019 killing of a Chechen exile in Berlin, which German authorities blamed on a Russian national acting on state orders.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has repeatedly accused Russia of conducting cyber warfare against Germany and has supported efforts to use frozen Russian assets to bolster Ukraine’s defence.
Moscow has not issued a formal response to the latest summons but has consistently denied allegations of cyber sabotage or hybrid operations across Europe.