BERLIN (AP) — The German government suspects Russia is behind a series of phishing attacks on Signal targeting high-ranking politicians, including two government ministers, military personnel and journalists, a government spokesperson said.
Federal prosecutors have been conducting a preliminary investigation since mid-February 2026 into alleged cyberattacks on Signal accounts, a spokesperson for the federal prosecutors confirmed on Saturday.
Among other things, the investigation involves an initial suspicion of espionage, she added, without specifying which country might be involved.
The German government has still not officially attributed the attacks to Russia.
Germany and other European countries have been under increased pressure from cyberattacks and other malign activity linked to Russia by Western officials since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Around 300 Signal accounts belonging to individuals within the political sphere were compromised in the attacks, German magazine Der Spiegel reported, quoting governmental sources.
There is no official confirmation of the names of the victims.
According to Der Spiegel, the targeted users received messages from a fake Signal security chatbot that informed them of suspicious activity on their accounts and asked them to take immediate action. If the user followed the instructions, including entering a PIN or scanning a QR code, their Signal accounts were linked to an external device controlled by the hackers.
This allowed the attackers to read past chats, follow ongoing conversations and even see address books and other data stored by the users.
In February, Germany's domestic intelligence service BfV and the federal cybersecurity authority BSI had issued a public warning about such a phishing campaign, saying it was “likely being carried out by a state-controlled cyber actor.” According to the German press agency dpa, German authorities also contacted several politicians personally to warn them such attacks may have happened.
In March, Dutch intelligence and security services also warned that “Russian state hackers are engaged in a large-scale global cyber campaign to gain access to Signal and WhatsApp accounts belonging to dignitaries, military personnel and civil servants.”
Targets include Dutch government employees, the Dutch authorities warned at the time, and journalists may also have been targeted.
The Russian embassy in Berlin did not respond to an AP request for comment. Moscow has repeatedly denied it is spying on other countries.
Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, the German ambassador to Russia, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday morning, dpa reported, regarding alleged contacts between German politicians and terrorist organizations. No connection has been made between the summons and the German media revelations about the Signal phishing attacks.
“I will, of course, comply with the summons. I consider it unlikely that the Russian side will be able to substantiate its accusations,” Lambsdorff said in advance. Relations between the two countries have been tense for years.
———
Ciobanu reported from Warsaw, Poland.
FILE - Signal app on a smartphone is seen on a mobile device screen Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone attack before dawn on Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa wounded 14 people, including two children, authorities said Monday, in the latest barrage of civilian areas that have been a hallmark of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone strike killed two people in the Russia-occupied part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, Moscow-installed Gov. Vladimir Saldo said Monday. A man and a woman in their 70s died in the village of Dnipriany, he said.
In Odesa, drones hit residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure, said Serhii Lysak, the head of the city’s administration. Russia has repeatedly targeted Odesa, a key Black Sea port for Ukraine, since Moscow launched the war more than four years ago on Feb. 24, 2022.
Five of the wounded, most of them with shrapnel wounds, were hospitalized, according to Oleh Kiper, the head of the regional military administration.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Monday that Russia has fired approximately 1,900 attack drones, nearly 1,400 powerful guided aerial bombs and around 60 missiles of various types at Ukraine over the past week.
Ukraine’s wartime development of cutting-edge military technology means that it's intercepting more than 90% of the drones that Russia launches, Zelenskyy said in an X post. However, Ukraine needs more American-made Patriot air defense missiles, which are able to shoot down Russia’s ballistic missiles.
Ukraine has recently been helping Middle Eastern and Gulf region countries, which are countering attacks on their territory by Iranian drones, with know-how during the Iran war.
Norway is the latest European country to enter into a joint drone manufacturing agreement with Kyiv, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said Monday.
In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said that his government plans a “drone armada” with Ukraine’s help, to defend both itself and Europe.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, on a visit to Warsaw, said that Ukraine has evolved from being a recipient of foreign military aid to a country that can offer state of the art military solutions.
“We are able to destroy tanks, destroy expensive systems and drones, it is our reality,” she said, according to the Polish press agency PAP. “A number of the systems that we’re using are produced in Ukraine. I think we have made a big leap here.”
Zelenskyy noted a recent raft of good news for Ukraine: NATO partners, excluding the United States, have contributed to a financial arrangement to buy American weapons, the European Union has approved a 90-billion-euro ($106-billion) loan to Ukraine, and the EU intends to place more sanctions on Moscow.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has been assailing oil terminals and refineries deep inside Russia with long-range drones and missiles, aiming to disrupt Moscow’s economy.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said late Sunday it has seen geolocated evidence that Ukrainian forces conducted at least 10 strikes against Russian oil and gas infrastructure in the past two weeks.
Claudia Ciobanu contributed to this report from Warsaw, Poland.
Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
A rescue worker walks inside apartments destroyed by a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)
A person walks near residential houses damaged by a Russian strike in Odesa, Ukraine, Monday, April 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Shtekel)
