Russia Adds German Officials Barred From Entry In Tit-For-Tat Over 2015 Cyberattack

December 29, 2020

Moscow says it has added several senior German security officials to its list of those barred from the country in response to the European Union's decision to place travel bans on Russian officials over a 2015 hacking attack on the German parliament.

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not name the individuals added to the list on December 29 in the tit-for-tat move, saying "the new persons involved in the Russian stop-list have been elected senior officials of the German security and intelligence agencies that are part of the system of the German Defense Ministry."

In October, the European Union and Great Britain imposed sanctions against the head of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, a unit within the agency, and one of its officers for their involvement in the cyberattack.

During the attack, the Bundestag's information system's operations were disrupted for several days, a "significant" amount of data was stolen, and the e-mail accounts of several members of parliament, including Chancellor Angela Merkel's, were "affected," according to the EU.

The sanctions included an asset freeze on a unit within the GRU's 85th Main Special Service Center (GTsSS), also known as military unit 26165, whose officers took part in the cyberattack against the Bundestag, according to the EU.

The individuals hit by asset freezes and travel bans include GTsSS officer Dmitry Badin, who the EU said was part of the team that conducted the cyberattack.

The EU also targeted Igor Kostyukov, saying that as head of the GRU he is responsible for cyberattacks carried out by the GTsSS.