In August 2026, the German government authorized its spy services to carry out active measures including sabotage and cyber attacks against Russia.
Posted by The Headlines, Checked
- Sources
- 4 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 75%
The HeadlinesSep 4, 2026
Reuters and AP both report that Germany's cabinet approved, on August 12, 2026, a bill giving the BND and BfV active operational powers, including sabotage and cyber disruption, with Russia named as a principal threat.
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What was said
… They've kicked out diplomats, they've imposed sanctions, but they've realized that this is really doing little to blunt this Russian campaign, and so they are starting to experiment with some new ideas. Recently, ah, in August, in fact, the German government authorized its spy services, for the first time since World War Two, to carry out what are called active measures. So this is sabotage, cyber attacks, things like that, directed at Russia. But experts and officials are telling me that even these kinds of more aggressive measures are not going to be enough, and so, for the time being, they expect these attacks simply are going to continue. Now, three updates on the Trump administration. …
The Headlines · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. Reuters reports Germany's cabinet approved measures on August 12, 2026 granting intelligence services new powers to hack communications and carry out active operations to thwart attacks.[1]
Supports. AP reports the cabinet approved draft legislation letting the BND and BfV take actions such as disabling sabotage and hacking attempts in response to a rising threat from powers such as Russia.[2]
Supports. Euronews reports the reforms would let spy agencies conduct non-lethal operations such as hacking enemy servers or sabotage, and Politico describes the BND gaining the ability to carry out sabotage and offensive cyber operations to counter Russia.[3][4]
Context. The approval was of a draft bill that still requires parliamentary approval and is expected to take effect in early 2027, so the powers were not yet legally in force when the claim's 'authorized' is read strictly.[2][3]
Context. Coverage frames the powers against 'foreign adversaries' and 'hostile actors' generally, with Russia as the central named threat rather than the sole target.[1][4][5]
Sources
5 sources: 2 fact-checkers, 3 not rated
- 1German cabinet approves plan to grant more powers to spy servicesreuters.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 2Germany wants to give its intelligence services more powersapnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports, context
- 3Germany beefs up intelligence services as 'foreign' threats riseeuronews.com · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 4Putin threat pushes Germany to give spies major new powerspolitico.eu · not rated · cited for: supports, context
- 5Germany moves to give spy agencies hacking and ...therecord.media · not rated · cited for: context
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