French intelligence and national security agencies have been placed on maximum alert amid concerns over a potential large-scale influx of Russian intelligence operatives and an intensification of hybrid operations by Russia's military intelligence agency (GRU) and Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) ahead of the 2027 presidential election, as reported by Intelligence Online.
Although the number of Russian diplomatic personnel and intelligence operatives working under diplomatic cover in Paris has reportedly fallen by approximately half since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, following a series of mass expulsions, Russian intelligence activity in France remains a major security concern.
According to France's General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), Moscow intends to significantly expand its covert operations, recruitment activities and information provocations aimed at destabilising the country's political and social environment, undermining the current leadership of the French Fifth Republic and directly influencing the electoral process.
Countering hybrid threats has become a priority for France's senior counterintelligence leadership. In preparation for potential risks surrounding the 2027 election, the DGSI has undergone personnel changes, including the appointment of new heads of its key H Division, which specialises in counterintelligence, and its counterterrorism departments.
Meanwhile, the Defence Intelligence and Security Directorate (DRSD), working alongside the DGSI, has launched a programme of continuous security assessments and protection for small and medium-sized enterprises within France's defence industry.
Defence startups, particularly companies developing and manufacturing unmanned aerial vehicles, have increasingly approached intelligence agencies in recent months seeking cybersecurity assistance and personnel screening to identify potential intelligence infiltration.
Reported Russian intelligence operations in France span a wide range of targets, from elite military units to diplomatic missions and proxy networks:
- Military infiltration: French authorities have identified alleged attempts by the GRU to establish covert contacts with soldiers serving in the 2nd Foreign Parachute Regiment of the French Foreign Legion, stationed in Corsica. Russian military intelligence had previously also attempted to recruit a French officer at a NATO base in Italy.
- Diplomatic confrontation: Paris has adopted a restrictive approach to Russian diplomatic appointments. French counterintelligence reportedly blocked the appointment of a Russian consul general in Marseille after identifying the candidate as a career Russian intelligence officer.
- Proxy networks and sabotage: French judicial authorities are preparing proceedings concerning suspected hybrid operations, including the desecration of a Holocaust memorial in Paris by Bulgarian nationals allegedly recruited by Russian intelligence services.
- Pressure on dissidents: Russian human rights activist Vladimir Osechkin, based in Biarritz, remains under close surveillance and protection following reported attempts to monitor him and organise assassination plots.
Russia is also reportedly using religious and cultural channels alongside traditional espionage methods, including the Russian House cultural centre in Paris and organisations associated with the Russian Orthodox Church, to develop intelligence networks and promote pro-Kremlin narratives among European conservatives.
