Aides of a leading French presidential candidate have said Russian groups are interfering with his campaign but offered little evidence to back up the claim.
Several officials with the campaign of centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron have blamed Russian media and Russian hackers for attempting to sway the result of the two-round French presidential vote that takes place on April 23 and May 7.
Campaign chairman Richard Ferrand told France 2 television that Russian state broadcasters were “daily” transmitting “fake news” and that Mr Macron’s campaign site and its databases had seen “hundreds or even thousands” of electronic attacks emanating from Russia.
Even if true, experts say such claims do not prove anything because the apparent origin of electronic intrusions only rarely points directly to the actors involved.
