As France heads into a high-stakes presidential race, security officials say a Russian disinformation operation has singled out candidate Gabriel Attal, using fabricated claims pushed online to undermine the former prime minister. Despite the attribution, the activity stayed “relatively low-profile” and drew only a few thousand views, according to a security source. The false material surfaced on X through posts masquerading as established French news outlets, wrongly alleging that Mr Attal had Parkinson’s disease or backed a more favourable policy towards squatters. A source close to Mr Attal said the campaign was likely driven by his “commitment to Ukraine” following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. That campaign was traced to the propaganda network Storm-1516, which the source said has been linked to Russian intelligence.