France to summon Russian envoy as EU and UK roll out fresh sanctions over FSB-led cyber campaign across Europe

A coordinated diplomatic and sanctions response

France will summon Russian ambassador Alexei Meshkov in the coming days over a wide-ranging cyber campaign Moscow has conducted against roughly ten European countries, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told BFM TV on 13 July. The French government publicly attributes these malicious cyber activities to the 16th Centre of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), specifically its hacker group known as Turla. In parallel, Germany ordered its own ambassador summons for Sergei Netschajew, with the foreign ministry calling the attacks unacceptable on social media platform X.

Today, we will publicly condemn a widespread cyber campaign conducted by Russia that aimed to carry out sabotage and spying conducted against a dozen countries.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, issued a statement condemning the campaign and confirming that the bloc will add further names to its sanctions list. The United Kingdom also joined the denunciation, marking what Libération described as a joint attribution for the first time with Brussels, pinpointing FSB services behind an attack on the Polish electricity grid that London says was thwarted.

Targets across Europe: ministries, infrastructure and elections

The campaign, active since the 2010s and continuing to the present day according to French security sources cited by Franceinfo, has hit France, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and Finland. In France, the operation compromised internet messaging accounts of the Ministry of Defence from 2017, a French embassy network in Moscow in 2018, a Ministry of Justice institution in 2019, and a high-tech entity in 2025. The hacking group Turla, operating within FSB's 16th Centre, specifically used military unit 61240 near St Petersburg for operations directed at the country.

In Germany, government entities were targeted.

In Poland, the campaign recently targeted the water supply system and energy facilities, including heating and power plants. Barrot clarified that the objective was either to gather intelligence or to sabotage the operation of infrastructure, citing the example of railway systems in Poland. Beyond traditional infrastructure, the French minister noted that vigilance is required for electoral processes, with Senate, presidential and likely legislative elections on the domestic horizon, and that Viginum and the national cybersecurity agency ANSSI are being mobilised to counter disinformation campaigns.

The sanctions tool: nine individuals, four entities and more

France announced sanctions against nine Russian individuals and four entities for orchestrating the campaign. The EU's coordinated package also targets 13 individuals and entities. The UK announced on the same day its own set, sanctioning 24 entities and individuals linked to Russian intelligence services, including senior officers of the Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU): Vyacheslav Stafeev, Ivan Semin and Ivan Kasyanenko, according to wnp.pl.

The EU's statement says the sanctions will also affect members of the cybercriminal groups Lumma Infostealer and Trickbot, as well as the pro-Russian hacktivist collective Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, which had announced operations aimed at destabilising the Paris Olympic Games. Two hosting providers that supplied infrastructure to Russian hackers and refused to cooperate with European authorities will also be sanctioned.

An expanding cyber ecosystem under scrutiny

The EU's analysis, as reported by the Berliner Zeitung, describes the FSB as using an entire cyber ecosystem that spans state and non-state actors. This ecosystem, Brussels believes, has been used to target the EU, its member states and international partners with increasingly severe cyberattacks. RFI adds that the French cyber crisis coordination centre has tracked the group's focus on French private and public institutions, particularly in the diplomatic, defence, justice and technology sectors.

We have considerably strengthened our defences against these cyberattacks.

France's foreign minister asserted that the country possesses one of the most advanced systems in Europe and the world for countering hybrid aggression from Russia. The EU, meanwhile, called on all states including Russia to abide by the UN framework for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace and emphasised its close coordination with the UK and NATO.