France on Tuesday directly accused Russia's GRU military intelligence agency of a string of cyber attacks, including on ministries, defense firms and think tanks, which the foreign ministry said aimed to destabilize the country.
"Since 2021, this attack modus operandi (MOA) has been used to target or compromise a dozen French entities," the ministry said in a statement.
The accusations, labeled at GRU unit APT28, which officials said was located at Rostov-on-Don, are not the first by Western powers, but it is the first time Paris - referring to its own intelligence gathering - has laid the blame at the Russian state.