French ex-intel official: foreign spies may be behind power grid sabotage

This was stated in a comment to Ukrinform by Jérôme Poirot, former Deputy Coordinator of National Intelligence under the President of France.

He believes that the arson attack on a transformer in Nice and the destruction of two power line pylons near Cannes were likely carried out by the same organizations.

“This is the most likely hypothesis. These are acts of sabotage of a similar nature that require careful preparation, reconnaissance, and technical knowledge — knowing what exactly and how to disable it. Furthermore, it is very dangerous as interfering with such installations poses a high risk of electric shock,” the expert noted.

According to him, the main goal of the anonymous actors calling themselves ‘anarchists’ is to convince the public that the current system of governance is on the wrong path.

“So everything needs to change — the political system, the way of life, ultimately a revolution. They want to end capitalism, the exploitation of workers, dismantle the state, and ‘save the planet.’ They call themselves anarchists hoping to gain sympathy from a certain segment of the population. But they could also call themselves revolutionaries, environmental defenders, or enemies of capitalism. There’s a degree of ‘marketing’ in how they label themselves,” Poirot added.

He suggests that these individuals may be manipulated from abroad with the goal of weakening France, and that such ‘ecological’ slogans may be a front for foreign intelligence services.

“Undoubtedly, and it’s highly likely. All violent or radical movements — the IRA, ETA, ‘Action Directe’ in France, the terrorist Carlos (a far-left terrorist with pro-communist views during the Cold War) — they all received assistance, were infiltrated, or manipulated by intelligence services from the communist bloc. So these ‘anarchists’ are also likely to have direct or indirect connections to foreign intelligence services: most likely Russian, possibly Algerian (considering the strained relations between France and Algeria), or others,” claims the former intelligence officer.

In his view, ‘environmental activism’ is a typical component of hybrid warfare.

“They often overlap or intersect. Presenting a hostile act by a foreign state as the actions of an extremist group is a clear element of hybrid warfare,” Poirot emphasized.

He considers the most effective countermeasures to be immediate arrests and lengthy prison sentences.

“At the same time, intelligence agencies must work proactively to detect and neutralize such threats before they act,” the expert added.

Recently, there have been several cases of intentional damage to power infrastructure in southern France. In Nice, an electrical transformer was set on fire. This occurred the day after unknown individuals sawed through two power line poles, disrupting the Cannes Film Festival and leaving 160,000 households without electricity. Responsibility for the act was claimed by two anonymous groups of ‘anarchists’.

Earlier, in 2022, similar incidents were recorded in the Gard department, also in southern France, where ‘eco-activists’ took responsibility for damaging a power pole supplying energy to a chemical industrial center. They also claimed responsibility for two fires under high-voltage lines, which caused power outages at Marseille-Provence Airport and the Airbus Helicopters plant in Bouches-du-Rhône.

However, the most high-profile incident was the sabotage of the TGV high-speed rail and fiber-optic networks on the day of the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which caused a collapse of the transportation system.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, during the night of July 26, 2024, coordinated acts of sabotage were carried out at facilities of SNCF, the French national railway operator.