France accuses Russia of faking websites to sow confusion and disinformation about Ukraine war

France’s government accused Russia on Tuesday of operating a long-running online manipulation campaign, including impersonating the websites of leading French media and the French Foreign Ministry, aimed at spreading confusion and false information about the war in Ukraine. 

The French agency responsible for fighting foreign digital interference, VIGINUM, said it has monitored the alleged operation since soon after Russia invaded its neighbor and that France was one of several European countries targeted. It said it traced the campaign to Russian individuals, companies and “state entities or entities affiliated to the Russian state.”  

Last month, the agency detected a mirror website mimicking the French Foreign Ministry's and intervened with “protective and preventive measures,” VIGINUM said in a report published Tuesday. 

“France condemns these actions, which are unworthy of a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. No attempt at manipulation will distract France from its support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression,” the ministry said in a statement with unusually strong wording.