The Federal Prosecutor is now investigating alleged Russian cyber attacks on German politicians.

The investigations were initiated on suspicion of secret service agent activity, said a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office on Thursday in Karlsruhe.

It is about a campaign that goes under the name "Ghostwriter".

Spiegel, WDR and BR also reported on the initiation of the investigation.

Russia's Foreign Ministry rejected the allegations. "Our partners in Germany have not presented any evidence that the Russian Federation was involved in these attacks," said Ministry spokeswoman Maria Sakharova in Moscow. There are also such baseless accusations from the USA. She said it was probably a new campaign against Russia with a view to the general election on September 26th.

The Foreign Office announced on Monday that the federal government had "reliable findings on the basis of which the" ghostwriter "activities can be assigned to cyber actors of the Russian state and specifically to the Russian military intelligence service GRU".

During a visit by Vice Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov to Berlin last week, the Russian government was asked to stop the illegal cyberattacks immediately.

Before the election in particular, phishing emails were sent to members of the Bundestag and Landtag.

Phishing is the attempt to obtain personal data via e-mails or websites in order to be able to use someone else's identity.

The access data can be used, for example, to disinformation or blackmail people with personal and intimate information.

The security authorities had informed the Bundestag at least three times this year about cyber attacks by foreign intelligence services on parliamentarians.

Most recently, several members of the Union and the SPD are said to have been affected.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and the Federal Office for Information Security (BSI) announced in June that "intelligence attacks against party members are intensifying".

These attacks were often directed against private and business e-mail addresses of parliamentarians.