Left-centrist Member of the European Parliament and presumed candidate for the French presidency in the 2027 election, Raphaël Glucksmann, has stated that he has become the target of a Russian discreditation operation involving Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).
On 4 August 2026, Glucksmann wrote on social media that France’s General Secretariat for Defence and National Security (SGDSN) had confirmed he was the target of an attack by the Storm-1516 group, which is directly controlled by the GRU. “The Russian operation has been identified, traced and attributed,” the politician emphasised.
According to French media, the operation involved a fake media outlet imitating the publication Blast. False materials were circulated there, including an AI-generated video. These claimed that Glucksmann’s partner, Léa Salamé, presenter of the “20 Heures” news on France 2, had allegedly offered journalists money (up to €50,000) for favourable coverage of Glucksmann’s potential presidential campaign. The fake publications featured the names of real journalists, including Mediapart co-founder Edwy Plenel, who publicly denied any involvement and called it all a lie.
Glucksmann, leader of the Place publique movement, described this as a typical method of the Russian special services: “The goal is to make a complete lie go viral in order to smear personalities considered hostile by the regime, or at least to create a halo of suspicion based on the principle of ‘there is no smoke without fire’.” He warned that this was merely a “foretaste” of what awaits France ahead of the 2027 presidential election, and that he expects large-scale foreign interference against democratic and pro-European candidates.
French sources link the operation to the pro-Russian information networks Storm-1516 and CopyCop, which have previously carried out similar disinformation campaigns in France. Glucksmann, known for his sharp criticism of Vladimir Putin’s regime and his work in the European Parliament on foreign interference issues, declared that he would not allow “the Kremlin’s henchmen to undermine our democracy.”
The politician has not yet officially announced his participation in the 2027 presidential race, but is expected to make a statement on the matter by the end of August.