Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the allegations Tuesday, saying France was attempting to portray Russia as an enemy while blaming Moscow for its own economic and foreign policy problems, Anadolu Agency reported.
Zakharova said Russia’s charge d’affaires in France had already rejected the accusations as unfounded after being summoned to the French Foreign Ministry on July 17.
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“Incredibly, they were made public on the day of another meeting of the so-called ‘Coalition of the Willing’ in Paris,” she said.
She also criticized VIGINUM, France’s agency responsible for combating foreign digital interference, after it accused Russia of attempting to interfere in France’s 2027 presidential election.
Zakharova claimed that candidates in the upcoming election were using warnings about a supposed Russian threat and support for Ukraine as part of their political platforms.
“We see that for many candidates, the presidential race requires making loud statements about combating the ‘Russian threat’ and supporting the Kyiv regime as part of their ‘mandatory platform,’” she said.
She further accused French authorities of interfering more persistently in the country’s own elections and democratic processes, without providing evidence for the claim.
French authorities, meanwhile, have linked several recent disinformation campaigns to networks they describe as pro-Russian.
VIGINUM attributed operations carried out during the summer to two networks known as Matryoshka and Storm-1516, according to French media reports. The campaigns reportedly targeted prominent French political figures, including Renaissance leader and presidential candidate Gabriel Attal, Horizons leader Edouard Philippe and European Parliament member Raphael Glucksmann.
Attal has accused Moscow of attempting to influence the upcoming election.
“Russia wants to steal the presidential election from the French people by preventing them from making an informed choice,” the former prime minister said, describing the latest alleged interference campaign as unsurprising.
French President Emmanuel Macron has also previously raised concerns about Russian interference. In February, he accused Moscow of “massively buying millions of fake accounts during election periods.”
France is scheduled to hold its presidential election on April 18, 2027. A second round will take place on May 2 if no candidate wins a majority in the first round.
The dispute comes as European governments remain increasingly concerned about foreign interference, disinformation and cyber operations ahead of major elections, while Moscow continues to reject allegations that it seeks to manipulate Western democratic processes.
