Germany remains a central focus of Russian disinformation efforts, and Kremlin-backed campaigns continue to grow in scope and intensity.

That was the warning that senior security officials and lawmakers issued this week during a public session of the German parliament’s committee responsible for overseeing the country’s intelligence agencies.

“We have long recognized the threat to Germany from foreign influence and hybrid warfare, especially from Russia,” said Konstantin von Notz, a Green Party lawmaker and the committee’s chairman.

“However, we are now witnessing a new level of intensity, and this development is deeply worrying for all of us.”

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As Germany has emerged as one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, the Kremlin has increasingly perceived Germany “as an enemy” and treated it as one, said Bruno Kahl, president of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND).

Kahl explained that Russian President Vladimir Putin has long waged a “hybrid war” against countries in the West to “create a new world order.” To achieve this end, Putin is using Russia’s secret service agencies “as the spearhead in the fight against the West, with a state mandate, with all the means at their disposal, without legal restrictions and, above all, without any conscience.”