France to summon Russian ambassador over “sabotage and espionage in twelve European countries”

France’s foreign minister said on Monday that the Russian embassy in Paris would be called in for a “massive cyber campaign” across Europe.

“We will also impose sanctions on nine people and four organizations responsible for this cyber campaign, which was organized by the FSB,” Russia’s main intelligence and security service, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, in an interview with BFMTV/RMC.

He made the announcement as the European Union and the United Kingdom announced similar sanctions.

The Russian attack, which allegedly targeted companies, government ministers and service workers, was an attempt at “sabotage and espionage in a dozen European countries,” Barrot said.

The goal was to “capture information or destroy operations, for example railway infrastructure, as it were case in Poland,” he said. Poland’s top diplomat accused Russia of an “act of terrorism” in November last year after two Ukrainians suspected of working closely with Russian intelligence were accused of blowing up a railway in the country.

Barrot said on Monday that France was able to “detect this attack,” and that “we have greatly strengthened our defense against this cyber attack.”

The EU criticized Russia’s “dangerous cyber ecosystem” on Monday, meanwhile, targeting the bloc and its member states.

In a statement, the EU criticized Russia for “using a cyber ecosystem that includes state and non-state actors, from intelligence operations to cybercriminal groups, hackers and private companies.”

The EU accused the FSB of controlling “a variety of cyber threat groups” and said its operations included “infiltration of government networks and destruction of critical infrastructure.”

France, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and Finland are targeted, among other nations, causing “disruption and financial loss,” the bloc said.

The EU said it was punishing nine individuals and four entities, including officials from Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency, “as well as cybercriminals, so-called hacktivists and private companies.”

The UK government said it is punishing 24 individuals and organizations for “cyber and hybrid activities.”

The new measures and accusations come as France prepares to host a summit of the “Coalition of the Willing” – a group allied with Ukraine – in Paris on Monday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the group a “coalition of warmongers,” adding: “These countries are carrying out hostile actions against Russia, so we will be watching very closely.”

In April, Sweden revealed that it had foiled a Russian cyberattack targeting a thermal power plant last year. The announcement came after Poland, Norway, Denmark and Latvia warned that Russia was targeting critical infrastructure across Europe.

In addition to the November 2025 Polish railway attack, an alleged FSB plot to attack Poland’s power grid a month later would have “caused 500,000 residents to lose electricity” had it succeeded, according to the UK government.

A number of mysterious drone sightings near airfields and military bases across Western Europe have been widely attributed to Russia, in addition to the apparent incursion of NATO aircraft into NATO airspace.

Some of America’s allies have said for months that Europe is in a gray area between peace and war with Russia – accusing Moscow of spreading “hybrid wars.”