France to summon Russian ambassador over cyber attacks as EU imposes sanctions

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Monday that that France would summon the Russian ambassador to France "in the coming days" and sanction nine Russian individuals and four Russian entities.

The sanctions are part of a coordinated package from the European Union and the UK, which said it was adding 24 names to its blacklist.

Barrot told BFM television about a "vast cyber campaign" against ten European countries in recent days that he said had been orchestrated by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), targeting government ministries, companies and service operators.

Asset freezes
Among those subjected to asset freezes and visa bans were officers of Russia's GRU military intelligence agency, and alleged "cybercriminals" working together with the Russian state.

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The aim the campaign was "either of capturing information or sabotaging operations, for example rail infrastructure, as was the case in Poland," Barrot said, referring to a recent attempted attack targeting critical infrastructure in Poland, including the power grid.

The European Union blamed "cybercriminals, self-proclaimed hacktivists and private companies linked to Russia, including actors operating under its instructions, direction or control".

In a statement, the French Foreign Ministry detailed a series of attacks in France over the past several years, including hacking of Foreign Ministry and Defence Ministry email accounts in 2017 and 2018, as well as servers and research institutes involved in the defence and justice sectors.

Targeted spying
It called out a specific unit of the FSB's Centre 16 spying hub "responsible for targeting France", but also said the situation affects other European countries, which "constitute one aspect of growing hybrid threats directed against the Member States of the European Union in the context of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine".

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Moscow has repeatedly denied carrying out cyberattacks and acts of sabotage across Europe.

Barrot said France had been able to detect the attacks because it has increased its defenses against them.

(with AFP)