From the beginning of August, Russian-linked disinformation activity targeting potential political opponents to Marine Le Pen in France’s 2027 presidential election appears to have been gathering momentum.
The French government’s foreign-interference agency, Viginum, has identified the Russian-linked Matriochka group as being behind recent attacks on presidential hopefuls Gabriel Attal, Édouard Philippe and Raphaël Glucksmann.
The operation is said to have used fabricated news reports, fake videos and material designed to look as though it originated with genuine French media organisations.
Significant timing
Matriochka is not new, with Viginum saying it has been active since at least September 2023 and has historically concentrated on anti-Ukraine narratives and attacks on Western support for Ukraine.
But the timing of the latest operation is significant. On 7 July 2026, Marine Le Pen’s appeal ruling removed the immediate legal obstacle to her participation in the 2027 presidential election.
Her return to the race altered the electoral trajectory of her potential opponents, particularly Attal and Philippe.
Fabricated material
By early August, Russian-linked material was quite clearly targeting these opponents. On 4 August, Gabriel Attal publicly revealed that he had been targeted with fabricated material.
Viginum subsequently attributed the operation to Matriochka with a high level of certainty.
A few days later, French media reported that Attal, Philippe and Glucksmann had all been targeted.
Having said that, there is currently no evidence establishing any direct cooperation between Russia and the Rassemblement National (RN). The individuals targeted are all potential threats to Marine Le Pen. They are also broadly opposed to Vladimir Putin and supportive of Ukraine.
A similar development has appeared in Germany. On 5 August, Reuters reported Russian disinformation campaigns targeting politicians opposed to the far-right AfD. As in France, these online campaigns used fabricated allegations and fake material originating from respected media organisations.
This raises the question of whether Russian disinformation campaigns are running in other countries across Europe.
Damaging
Viginum has previously found that Matriochka material has a relatively limited reach. Its March 2026 report on French municipal-election activity described the likely impact as low, with much of the material appearing on X.
The most interesting possibility emerging from all of this is not simply that Russia is interfering in the run-up to the French 2027 election – that much is established.
The more important questions are whether it succeeds in damaging Marine Le Pen’s political opponents and about the role of the French far-right online ecosystem in helping circulate the resulting false narratives. 
