German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that Germany must be ready to counter any hybrid attacks from Russia, which include social media campaigns designed to help far-right and populist parties, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
“Putin is involved in hybrid attacks and Germany in particular is in focus“, Pistorius told newspapers from the “Funke“ media group in a statement published today.
“He knows us well, Putin knows how to stab us“, added the defense minister, who is a Social Democrat. "By ignoring this threat because it makes us uncomfortable, we will not make it smaller, but rather larger," Pistorius assessed.
A hybrid attack is a type of cyberattack in which a malicious actor uses more than one tool to break into a device or network or carry out some other type of attack, the DPA noted.
Pistorius suggested that the attacks would affect Germany's infrastructure, energy supplies, activities in the North and Baltic Seas and cause disruptions in airspace.
“There are also social media campaigns, interference in election campaigns and vote financing, such as the “Alternative for Germany” and Sarah Wagenknecht's Alliance] B S Ve, who claim that it is not about our own defense, but that we are going to war with Russia“, said Pistorius.
Part of Putin's strategy is to disrupt and divide our society, is the minister's opinion. We must do everything possible to prevent Putin's strategy from succeeding, he said.
When asked if Germany is where it needs to be militarily, Pistorius replied: “We are on the right track“. This year alone, 97 major projects worth 58 billion euros have been launched, beating last year's record.
“We have transferred a large amount of materials to Ukraine. In addition, the industry needs time to increase its production capacity for weapons and ammunition.“
Pistorius explained that the Leopard tank requires a delivery time of up to two and a half years, while frigates and submarines require six to eight years.
“The delivery periods themselves make it clear: it is impossible to fill the gaps created over the past 30 years within one legislative period,“ Minister Pistorius stressed.