Dec. 12 (UPI) — The German Foreign Ministry said it summoned the Russian ambassador Friday after accusing Moscow’s military intelligence of a cyberattack on air traffic control and attempted election interference.
A spokesperson for the ministry said a hacker group behind the 2024 cyberattack likely has ties to GRU, Russia’s military intelligence.
“We can now clearly attribute the cyberattack against German Air Safety in August 2024 to the hacker collective APT28, also known as Fancy Bear,” the ministry said, according to Euronews.
The ministry also said it can be “definitively stated” that Russia attempted to interfere in February’s general elections in an attempt to undermine government institutions and processes.
A Russian propaganda group called Storm-1516 is accused of launching a targeted disinformation campaign to influence the election. The group allegedly spread misinformation about ballot manipulation, Green Party candidate Robert Habeck and now-Chancellor Friedrich Merz, the BBC reported.
“Russia is thus very specifically threatening our security,” the ministry added.
South Africans honor Nelson Mandela
Large crowds gather outside Nelson Mandela’s former home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton to pay their respects on December 7, 2013. Mandela, former South African president and a global icon of the anti-apartheid movement, died on December 5 at age 95 after complications from a recurring lung infection. Photo by Charlie Shoemaker/UPI | License Photo