researchers from trend micro in 2017 released a report outlining attempts by fancy bear to target groups related to the election campaigns of emmanuel macron and angela merkel. according to the report, they targeted the macron campaign with phishing and attempting to install malware on their site. french government cybersecurity agency anssi confirmed these attacks took place, but could not confirm apt28's responsibility. the apt group did not target marine le pen, further showing russia's involvement in the french elections, since putin has expressed his interest and hopes in marine le pen's victory for both political and financial gains.