French presidential candidate Attal targeted by Russian disinformation operation

Published Aug 5, 03:38 PM UTC

On August 5, 2026, Gabriel Attal, presidential candidate and secretary general of the Renaissance party, was revealed to be the target of a Russian disinformation operation, according to his entourage and confirmed by French security services. The operation, attributed with high confidence by Viginum to the pro-Russian Matriochka network, involved fake content on X (formerly Twitter) that usurped French media identities, falsely claiming Attal showed signs of Parkinson's disease and advocated pro-squatter policies. This is the third such operation in days, following similar targeting of candidates Edouard Philippe and Raphaël Glucksmann by the Storm-1516 group. All operations remained barely visible with few thousand views. Attal's team linked the interference to his strong stance on Ukraine and his presidential candidacy. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu had warned of a 'very acute' risk of foreign interference, and the government proposed a bill to toughen penalties for disseminating fake news in electoral contexts.

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