BERLIN, May 3. /TASS/. The Russian charge d’affaires in Germany who was summoned to the German Foreign Ministry on Friday over an alleged cyber-attack against the central office of the German Social Democratic Party last year resolutely dismissed Germany’s accusations as ungrounded, the Russian Embassy in Berlin said in a statement.
"On May 3, 2024, the Russian charge d'affaires in Germany was summoned to the German Foreign Ministry, where he was protested in connection with the allegedly proven cyber attack by the 'GRU-controlled' hacker group ART 28 on the central office of the Social Democratic Party of Germany in 2023," the embassy said. It pointed out that "an embassy representative categorically rejected the allegations of involvement of Russian state structures in the abovementioned case and the activities of the ART 28 group in general as unfounded and groundless," the Russian diplomat said.
"We view the German Foreign Ministry’s move as another unfriendly step aimed at fueling anti-Russian sentiment in Germany that may further damage the Russian-German relationship," the embassy said. According to it, the German side argued at a meeting at the Foreign Ministry that alleged "attacks by 'Russian state hackers' on Germany in cyberspace are unacceptable, condemnable and can have consequences."
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said earlier that the German government believes Russia is behind the hacking. According to her, a cabinet investigation led by the foreign ministry found that "the APT 28 group is responsible for last year's attack." The top German diplomat also threatened repercussions, but did not specify what those might be.
The Social Democratic Party of Germany said in June 2023 that hackers had broken into the email accounts of party officials, and did not rule out "data leaks from individual mailboxes." In Germany, the hacking group APT 28, known as Fancy Bear, was also accused of a large-scale cyberattack on the Bundestag's networks in 2015.
The Russian side has repeatedly denied accusations of involvement in the hacks. None of Germany's security agencies has ever provided evidence to support the media's version of the cybercriminals' links to Moscow.