The threat of hybrid warfare led by Russia is real and documented, says Laurent Nuñez

“The threat of hybrid war that Russia delivers” is “real” and “documented,” assured Laurent Nuñez on Monday after Emmanuel Macron’s announcement of a plan to protect critical infrastructure in France. The “nature of Russian aggressiveness and threats in Europe is changing,” Emmanuel Macron warned on Friday after a meeting at the Élysée with party leaders and candidates for the 2027 presidential election.

The president announced that he had asked the government to “prepare a plan to protect our critical infrastructure” in the face of Russian “hybrid” attacks. This protection plan against “drone attacks” and “cyber attacks” will also concern the “most sensitive sites of our defense industrial and technological base”, specified the Head of State. “We are talking about a threat which is real, which is a threat which is documented, which is the threat of hybrid war that Russia is delivering,” the Minister of the Interior insisted on BFMTV/RMC, considering it “irresponsible to minimize this threat”.

“There are protective measures taken by operators”

“The majority of the intelligence services of all European countries, and of course our French services, have pointed out, characterized this threat of Russian hybrid war,” he added, citing as an example the attempted attack involving a drone loaded with explosives at the German airport of Leipzig in August and the overflights by drones of several European airports in recent months.

France has not observed any drone flights in France, nor “major sabotage”, assured Laurent Nuñez, but has been the target of “cyber attacks”. To face this new threat, “we are rolling out the plan to protect our infrastructure” with “a map of the sites to be protected,” he explained. “There are protective measures which are taken by the operators (of the sites Editor’s note) themselves. There are rounds and patrols by the internal security forces” and “contacts which are established between the intelligence services and these operators”, developed Laurent Nuñez.

“The hybrid war and in particular that led by Russia aims to attack our infrastructure networks, our defense industrial base, the very one which supports Ukraine,” he added. Concerning the hypothesis of a Russian hybrid attack in the derailment of a TER in Normandy on September 11, probably caused by a rail present on the track, the minister replied that “no avenue” was excluded. “The investigation is still ongoing” and the prosecutor “will communicate when the time comes,” he said, without giving further details.