French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot directly confronted Moscow over what he called "unacceptable and malicious cyber operations" attributed to the Russian GRU’s APT28 group aka Fancy Bear. He presented the accusations during a UN debate on Ukraine, calling on Russia, whose envoy was present in the chamber, to “immediately halt the attacks.”
“Since 2021, this modus operandi (MOA) has been used to target or compromise around ten French entities. These entities are key players in the lives of French citizens: public services, private companies, and a sports organization linked to the organization of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the past, this modus operandi was also used by the GRU in the sabotage of the TV5Monde television channel in 2015, as well as in the attempt to destabilize the French electoral process in 2017,” officials said.
APT28, long identified by Western intelligence agencies as a unit within Russia's GRU, has been linked to numerous cyberattacks worldwide. Most notably, the group was implicated in the 2016 breach of the Democratic National Committee in the United States, during which emails from then-candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign were leaked in an apparent attempt to influence the election.
French authorities accused APT28 of participating in a “massive hacking operation” during President Emmanuel Macron’s 2017 campaign. Thousands of internal documents were stolen and leaked just hours before the election. Although the attempt was unsuccessful in altering the outcome, officials warn that future elections, including the 2027 presidential vote, remain vulnerable.
The group has also been accused of posing as Islamic State militants in a 2015 cyberattack on French television station TV5 Monde. At the time, the breach was intended to “create panic” and manipulate public opinion amid heightened concerns over terrorism.
In parallel, French cybersecurity agency ANSSI released a report detailing espionage campaigns associated with APT28 that have targeted entities located in France, as well as governmental entities in European countries, including foreign affairs departments, political parties, foundations and associations, and entities from the sectors of defense, logistics, arms industry, aerospace, and IT.
