Vladimir Putin in his official May 2012 portrait, the face of a power that Paris points to behind a cyber campaign in Europe. Credits: Kremlin.ru / Russian Presidential Press and Information Office, CC BY 4.0.
In the coming days, France will summon the Russian ambassador in Paris. It also supports new sanctions against Russia at the European level. French authorities attribute the Russian cyberattacks campaign to the FSB.
Jean-Noël Barrot announced this response on Monday, July 13, 2026. It targets espionage and sabotage operations in about ten European countries, including France. The specific incidents remain unknown.
A Summons and Thirteen European Sanctions
The Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs said on BFMTV-RMC that the ambassador would be summoned “in the coming days.” He presented this summons as a response to the cyber campaign attributed by Paris to Russia. At the same time, the European Union adopted restrictive measures against nine individuals and four entities. This European framework clarifies the scope of the thirteen sanctions mentioned by Jean-Noël Barrot. The official sources consulted do not establish the existence of a separate French list.
The minister did not give the exact date of the summons or detail the message that will be delivered to the ambassador. He also did not identify the French victims on air. The damage possibly caused by these operations was not detailed either.
The FSB’s 16th Center Directly Implicated
The French Foreign Ministry published a statement on July 13. It says that France has been targeted for several years by digital espionage activities from the FSB’s 16th Center. It specifically identifies Unit 61240, which it presents as responsible for targeting France.
The European Union links this center to several cyberthreat groups, including Turla. This public attribution strengthens the accusation made by the French government. The documents reviewed do not detail either the technical evidence for each incident or the full list of French targets.
Jean-Noël Barrot referred to ministries, companies, and operators in the affected countries. According to him, the intrusions sought to gather information or disrupt infrastructure. He cited the case of railway facilities in Poland, without presenting this example as an attack carried out in France.
Coordinated Responses, But Different Scope
The European measures target in particular Russian military intelligence officers, cybercriminals, and groups presenting themselves as hacktivists. They also concern private companies linked to cyber operations. The British government, for its part, has sanctioned 24 individuals and entities. These two lists fall under different legal regimes and their totals should not be added together.
In France, Jean-Noël Barrot highlighted ANSSI, which is responsible for information system security. He also cited Viginum, which detects foreign digital interference in public debate. Their role does not, however, amount to publishing a detailed assessment of this campaign. The sources examined name no French victims and provide no chronology of the intrusions. They do not quantify any damage.
By midday on July 13, no public Russian response had been identified. Neither the Russian embassy nor the Kremlin had reacted to this new attribution. The announced summons, its date, and any Russian response will be the next steps in this diplomatic sequence.