France to summon Russian ambassador over alleged cyberattack campaign

France will summon the Russian ambassador in Paris in the coming days and impose sanctions on nine individuals and four entities tied to what Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called a broad cyber campaign against about a dozen countries, including France. Barrot said the operation was aimed at sabotage and spying and that French authorities believe Russia’s Federal Security Service orchestrated it.

The move landed as Brussels pressed ahead with a wider response to Moscow. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said member states had not yet finalized a 21st sanctions package against Russia, but could separately approve about 250 additional listings, the largest number of designations the bloc has ever agreed in a single round. The European Union also issued a statement on July 13 imposing restrictive measures on nine individuals and four entities tied to Russia’s malicious cyber ecosystem, including GRU intelligence officers, cybercriminals, self-proclaimed hacktivists and private companies, while saying it would strengthen cooperation with NATO and the United Kingdom.

France’s latest step built on an earlier public accusation. In April 2025, Paris formally blamed Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU, for years of cyberattacks on French interests and said the APT28 group had targeted or compromised a dozen French entities since 2021. French officials linked the same group to the 2015 sabotage of TV5Monde and to attempts to destabilize the 2017 presidential election, and said it had also targeted an organization connected to the 2024 Paris Olympics.