Russia on Tuesday slammed as “baseless” accusations by the EU and Britain that its intelligence agencies were behind a campaign of cyber attacks on Europe.

“We do not accept any of these accusations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “These accusations are always baseless, they are never substantiated and we never hear any evidence,” he said.

The remarks came after the European Union and Britain imposed new sanctions on Moscow over these accusations.

The Russian position followed France and Germany’s announcement of diplomatic measures against Moscow. France said it would summon the Russian ambassador over allegations that Moscow conducted a “vast cyber campaign” of sabotage and espionage across Europe.

“We will also impose sanctions on nine individuals and four entities responsible for this cyber campaign, which was orchestrated by the FSB,” said France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot in an interview with French media.

Barrot claimed 10 European countries, including France, had been attacked over the last few days. He claimed government ministries, companies, and service operators were targeted with the objective of “capturing information or sabotaging operations, for example rail infrastructure, as was the case in Poland.”

The German Foreign Ministry also said on Monday it had summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest cyberattacks targeting the European Union. The EU and Britain have imposed new sanctions against Russia because of the attacks.

Last week, Italy ordered the expulsion of two accused Russian spies with diplomatic status, with its foreign minister condemning “serious and unacceptable acts of interference” by Moscow.

Russia has repeatedly denied carrying out cyberattacks against western countries. (AFP)