The European Union and Britain rolled out coordinated sanctions against Russia on Monday, holding Moscow accountable for a sustained campaign of cyber attacks across Europe. The two powers targeted nine individuals and four entities from the EU side, while Britain added 24 names to its blacklist over the digital strikes.
Germany's foreign ministry summoned Russia's ambassador to protest the attacks. A ministry spokeswoman told reporters: "This morning we summoned the Russian ambassador to the foreign ministry in connection with hostile cyber attacks."
Western officials have accused Russia's FSB intelligence agency of orchestrating the attacks as part of what they describe as a "hybrid" campaign to destabilise the continent. The campaign has intensified over four years into the war in Ukraine, according to officials.
The sanctions package marks the first joint cyber effort between London and Brussels. Britain's government said the measures "target the Russian state's persistent and increasingly reckless attempts to sow chaos and division across Europe."
Among those facing asset freezes and travel bans are officers from Russia's GRU military intelligence service and individuals described as "cybercriminals" working with the Russian state. The measures also target operatives linked to the FSB's Centre 16 spying unit.
The EU and Britain singled out a recent attempted cyber strike on Poland's critical infrastructure, including power facilities. "This reckless attack failed but could have caused 500,000 citizens to lose electricity in the depths of winter," Britain's foreign office said, describing it as typical of Russian recklessness.
France's foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters the attacks have targeted government departments, private companies, and service providers. He said the goal was either to steal information or sabotage operations, pointing to rail infrastructure disruptions in Poland as an example.
French officials noted that one of the sanctioned groups had claimed responsibility for destabilising actions aimed at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The group's activities represented a new escalation in Russia's campaign against European targets.
The EU identified nine member states as targets of the broader cyber campaign spanning several years. France, Germany, Poland, Cyprus, the Netherlands, Austria, Slovakia, Romania and Finland have all suffered attacks, according to officials.
Centre 16 has a long history of deploying malware to spy on nations worldwide, Western intelligence agencies have previously warned. The unit has remained active despite international scrutiny and past sanctions.
Both the EU and Britain have made punishing Moscow a priority since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Several EU member states summoned Russian diplomatic staff to lodge formal complaints over the cyber campaign.
On Monday evening, the EU also announced separate sanctions targeting 15 individuals and one entity it said were responsible for serious human rights violations against Ukrainian prisoners of war and civilian detainees in occupied regions of Ukraine.
