The incident allegedly took place a month ago, in the Black Sea.

The Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu denounced Russian threats against French patrols on Thursday February 22.  

"You have attempted Russian takeovers 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 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”.

Also read: Center 18, the FSB unit that watches over Moscow's international interests

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 can weigh on staff and their family environment, installations, information systems and networks".

"It's as old as the Cold War" but "Russia is playing with the thresholds in terms of aggressiveness", he concluded, citing a cyber attack this time targeting a French defense company and in particular its production of armaments.

With AFP

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you!

Download the France 24 application