Germany's Foreign Ministry has threatened EU sanctions against "those responsible" for a 2015 hacking attack on the German parliament, including a Russian national, as a diplomatic row between the two countries intensifies.
The ministry said in a statement on May 28 that it had summoned the Russian ambassador to Berlin to deliver the message, saying evidence showed Dmitry Badin was working for a Russian intelligence agency at the time of the attack, RFE/RL reported.
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German prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Badin, who was already being sought by U.S. authorities, and is believed to be part of the hacker group known as APT28, or Fancy Bear, on May 5.
"The Russian ambassador was informed that on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by the [German] federal prosecutor's office on May 5 against Russian national Dmitry Badin, that the German government will seek in Brussels to use the EU cyber sanctions regime against those responsible for the attack on the German Bundestag, including Mr. Badin," the ministry said in a statement.
"There is reliable evidence that [Badin] was a member of [Russia's] GRU military secret service at the time of the attack," the statement added.
Earlier this month, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that there was "hard evidence" on the involvement of "Russian forces" in a 2015 cyberattack against the German parliament in which documents from her own parliamentary office were reportedly stolen.
On May 27, Moscow denied any involvement in the cyberattacks on the Bundestag, saying that the issue is being used by Berlin to divert attention away from problems over the coronavirus pandemic.
Russia's Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment on the German move.
