The European Union has imposed sanctions on Russian intelligence groups, hackers and private companies over a series of cyberattacks on the blocʼs countries, which have been carrying out sabotage operations against critical infrastructure since 2010.
The Associated Press writes about this.
The European Council said in a statement that espionage had been recorded in at least nine countries: France, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and Finland.
The EU said that the exposed 16th center of the Russian FSB manages various cyber threat groups and carries out large-scale cyber attacks. It also added that the Russian center controls a number of groups that pose a cyber threat to European countries, in particular the TURLA group. This center has been conducting cyber espionage operations against French government structures since 2010, and since 2025 has targeted representatives of the countryʼs defense industry.
In Germany, the unit focused on government institutions, and in Poland, it attacked critical infrastructure. In response, the EU imposed sanctions on nine people and four organizations.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that France plans to summon the Russian ambassador in the coming days, based on the EU decision. According to him, the purpose of Russiaʼs cyberattacks is "either to gather information or to sabotage the work of, for example, railway infrastructure, as was the case in Poland".
The EU Council approved sanctions against 12 individuals and two organizations in December 2025 for hybrid threats from Russia, including information manipulation and cyberattacks. The restrictions targeted pro-Russian analysts, propagandists, and conspiracy theorists linked to the Kremlinʼs information apparatus.
For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.