Sébastien Lecornu denounces Russian threats in opposition to French patrols | EUROtoday

Published on : 02/22/2024 – 5:17 p.m.

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The incident allegedly happened a month in the past, within the Black Sea. The Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu denounced Russian threats in opposition to French patrols on Thursday February 22.

“You have attempts by the Russians to take control of a number of our patrols, a month ago a Russian air control system threatened to shoot down French planes in the Black Sea while we were in an internationally free zone in which we patrol,” he told French radio RTL.

“You have Russian operators threatening French pilots to shoot down their aircraft,” he continued.

These are air and maritime patrols supposed to guarantee freedom of movement on several seas around the world. The minister also mentioned a Russian warship which anchored in the Bay of Seine, certainly in an international zone but “as if to come back and intimidate France”.

An “aggressive” and hybrid Russian positioning

For several days, the government has been emphasizing an “aggressive” and hybrid Russian positioning, that is to say in several areas such as cyber, disinformation, energy, food, in addition to frontal military attacks.

In an internal memo dated Tuesday February 20, relayed by AFP, the minister called for the strengthening of security measures in the face of threats of Russian “sabotage and cyberattack” which target his ministry “first and foremost”.

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Sébastien Lecornu calls for measures to “reduce vulnerabilities in the face of subversive actions that could affect our staff, our infrastructure, our teams or even our activities”.

The minister mentions in particular “threats of sabotage and cyberattack which might weigh on employees and their household setting, installations, info programs and networks”.

“It's as previous because the Cold War” but “Russia is taking part in with the thresholds by way of aggressiveness”, he concluded, citing a cyber assault this time focusing on a French protection firm and particularly its manufacturing of armaments.

With AFP