German defense chief warns of hybrid threats from Russia

By Cuneyt Karadag

BERLIN (AA) - German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said that hybrid attacks were being launched from Russia and that the target of these attacks was Germany.

"Putin is engaging in hybrid attacks, and Germany is particularly in focus. He knows us well, Putin knows how to needle us," Pistorius told Funke Mediengruppe newspapers in comments released on Sunday.

Defining a hybrid war as a "combination of classic military operations, economic pressure, computer attacks and propaganda in the media and social networks," he said that the attackers' aim was specifically to destabilize societies.

Noting that it was important for Germany to prepare itself against these attacks, Pistorius said: "We must prepare ourselves so that we can confidently confront Putin's threat.

"If we ignore the threat because it makes us uncomfortable, it won't get smaller, it will get bigger."

German defense chief added that everything in their power should be done to prevent Putin's strategy from working.

*Writing by Serdar Dincel in Istanbul