Russia has repeatedly hit us with cyberattacks, France claims

France’s foreign ministry accused Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency on Tuesday of mounting cyber attacks on ministries, defense firms and think tanks.

France’s foreign ministry explicitly accused Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency on Tuesday of mounting cyber attacks on a dozen entities including ministries, defense firms and think tanks since 2021 in an attempt to destabilize France.

The accusations, levelled at GRU unit APT28, which officials said was based in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia, are not the first by a Western power, but it is the first time Paris has blamed the Russian state on the basis of its own intelligence.

The ministry said in a statement that APT28’s attacks on France go as far back as 2015, when the station TV5 Monde was taken off air in a hack claimed by purported Islamic State militants.

France said APT28 had been behind the attack, and another in the 2017 presidential election when emails linked to the party and campaign of the eventual winner, Emmanuel Macron, were leaked and mixed with disinformation.

According to a report by France’s National Cybersecurity Agency (ANSSI), APT28 has sought to obtain strategic intelligence from entities across Europe and North America.