The likely candidate for president of France and French MEP Raphael Glucksmann said he was the target of a Russian destabilization operation in connection with the upcoming presidential elections next year, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
According to Glucksmann, false information was spread.
"The General Secretariat for Defense and National Security informed me that I was targeted by the "Storm 1516" group, which is directly controlled by the GRU" - Russia's military intelligence, the Social Democrat MEP said on social media last night.
The operation was detected at the end of last week and was the work of the pro-Russian network "Storm 1516", a security source confirmed to AFP today.
In July, "Storm 1516" launched an attack on center-right presidential candidate Edouard Philippe through social media posts containing false information about his health.
The operation against Glucksmann reportedly had relatively little resonance on social media, but it nevertheless used, according to the AFP source, "relatively sophisticated" means of manipulation, such as hijacking the identity and voice of a well-known person in the media space through the so-called deepfake technology.
"The aim is to quickly spread a complete lie in order to denigrate people considered hostile by the Russian regime," said MEP Glucksmann.
The French politician accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of wanting to destabilize France and lead to the "implosion of the European bloc".
"His services are targeting democratic and pro-European candidates," Glucksmann pointed out.