BRUSSELS — The European Union announced sanctions Monday against Russian military intelligence officers, hackers, and private companies, condemning what it described as a years-long campaign of cyber espionage aimed at weakening the bloc.
The sanctions target nine individuals and four organizations accused of ties to an online spying network that the EU says has been attacking governments and conducting sabotage operations against critical infrastructure — including heating and power plants — since 2010.
The European Council released a statement saying those hit by the sanctions “contribute to Russia’s efforts to destabilize the EU, its member states and international partners.” The espionage and sabotage activities have been traced to at least nine countries.
The names of the specific individuals and organizations were not included in the official statement.
According to the European Council, the countries targeted include France, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Romania, and Finland, “among others.”
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that France plans to call in the Russian ambassador within the coming days. Speaking to French BFM television, he explained that the cyber operations are designed “either to capture information, or sabotage the operation, for example, of railway infrastructures as it was the case in Poland.”
The EU’s actions focused specifically on the 16th Centre of Russia’s Federal Security Service, known as the FSB. The bloc stated the FSB has been “controlling a variety of cyber threat groups” and has “conducted a wide range of malicious cyber activities with growing severity.”
Several nations have previously accused Russia of using cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns to interfere in elections.
In April, Sweden announced that a pro-Russian group with connections to Russia’s security and intelligence services was responsible for a cyberattack on a heating plant the previous year. That announcement came on the heels of warnings from officials in Poland, Norway, Denmark, and Latvia that Russia has been systematically targeting critical infrastructure throughout Europe.
