France's Renaissance party leader and presidential candidate Gabriel Attal was targeted by two new suspected Russian interference operations, broadcaster BFMTV reported on Friday.
The two latest operations brought the total number of suspected Russian interference operations targeting Attal, a former prime minister, to four in two weeks.
Sources told BFMTV that one of the operations involved 10 fake reports and fake newspaper front pages circulated on social media on Wednesday, spreading false information about Attal’s health and making false corruption allegations.
The second operation, on August 12, involved an AI-generated video showing caricatures of the former prime minister projected onto the Pantheon in Paris, including one accompanied by insulting messages.
Horizons party leader and former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe and European Parliament member Raphael Glucksmann, both considered potential presidential candidates, were also recently targeted by similar operations.
Attal’s lawyers said he filed a complaint on August 7 over “foreign interference,” while Glucksmann did the same on August 12.
