The accusations of the American authorities about Russia's involvement in cyberattacks against European countries are unfounded. This was stated on Friday by the Russian ambassador to the USA, Anatoly Antonov, the Telegram channel of the Russian diplomatic mission reported.
The diplomat's words were in response to the State Department's allegations of the involvement of Russian special services in cyberattacks against European allies of the United States.
„American authorities simply have nothing to show to support their insinuations. It is obvious that such provocative stories will only intensify as the US presidential election approaches, as it has in previous years. Local politicians feel like masters of the situation, fueling the notorious “Russian threat” and distracting voters from pressing issues”, he noted.
For Russia, Antonov continued, “the fight against crime is a priority and an integral part of the state policy to fight all forms of crime”. “Let me remind you that it was the collective West that took the line of militarizing the information space and improving the methods of carrying out cyber attacks. At the same time, according to statistics, the majority of computer attacks in the world come from the United States”, the ambassador emphasized.
The United States earlier condemned cyberattacks in several European countries attributed to a hacking group allegedly linked to the Russian Federation. According to a statement provided by the State Department's press office, the United States “strongly condemns malicious cyber activity” against Germany, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Sweden. The State Department says the APT28 group, also known as Fancy Bear, Strontium and Forest Blizzard, is believed to be behind these attacks, which the United States attributes to ties to Russian intelligence services.