Has France Launched Military Retaliation Against Russia Over Alleged Covert Attacks?
On the 19th, French media outlet Le Monde cited a French military source stating that President Macron has classified recent incidents—including mysterious drone interference, cyberattacks, and railway sabotage—as part of a "hybrid war" launched by Russia against Europe, and that France has initiated "unspecified conventional military retaliation" in response.
The military source did not elaborate on the nature of the so-called "conventional military retaliation" against Russia, merely confirming that such operations have already commenced.
On the 18th, Macron stated in a public address that despite threats from Russia, France would continue its support for Ukraine and pledged to respond to what Paris described as Russia’s “covert attacks.”
France’s accusation is not novel. For years, European countries including France have experienced disruptions such as infrastructure damage, drone-related aviation interference, and cyber intrusions. Since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, these incidents have been consistently attributed by European officials to Russia’s “hybrid warfare,” accompanied by threats of retaliation.
Yet it should be noted that although European authorities have pointed to Russia as the perpetrator, no verifiable evidence has been publicly presented to substantiate these claims.
In essence, this represents a pattern of blame-shifting. Over recent decades, many European nations have faced persistent governance challenges: aging infrastructure, inefficient public services, and widespread cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
By bundling these systemic issues into a single narrative of “Russian hybrid attacks,” governments avoid internal scrutiny while redirecting public frustration toward an external adversary: train delays are blamed on Russian sabotage, network failures are attributed to Moscow-based hackers, and regulatory lapses are rebranded as “sophisticated infiltration by hostile forces.”
The use of unverified and speculative incidents as justification for military retaliation underscores a longstanding tendency within European political discourse.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1876837800619008/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone.