Disinformation tactics from Russia aim to undermine France and President Macron amid upcoming legislative elections and the Paris Olympics.
In a recent surge of disinformation efforts, photos of blood-red hands on a Holocaust memorial, caskets at the Eiffel Tower, and fake military recruitment drives have emerged as part of a broader campaign orchestrated from Russia. These efforts target France’s legislative elections and the Paris Olympics, aiming to undermine President Emmanuel Macron, a staunch supporter of Ukraine.
According to French officials and cybersecurity experts in Europe and the United States, Russia’s disinformation campaigns began online in early summer 2023. They first became tangible in October when over 1,000 bots linked to Russia relayed photos of graffitied Stars of David in Paris and its suburbs. A French intelligence report indicated that the Russian intelligence agency FSB ordered the tagging and subsequent vandalism of a Holocaust memorial. Photos from these events were amplified on social media by fake accounts linked to the Russian disinformation site RRN. The French report suggests that RRN is part of a larger operation orchestrated by Sergei Kiriyenko, a ranking Kremlin official.
French military officials describe this as a “hybrid strategy,” combining online and offline tactics to provoke strong reactions and sow division. The antisemitic tags and vandalism, while not directly linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine, stirred significant political debate in France. Antisemitic attacks have been on the rise, and the ongoing war in Gaza has further heightened tensions.
In March, following Macron’s discussions about potentially mobilizing the French military in Ukraine, a fake recruitment drive for the French army appeared, leading to a series of posts in Russian- and French-language Telegram channels. These posts were picked up by Russian and Belarusian media. On June 1, caskets bearing inscriptions about French soldiers in Ukraine appeared outside the Eiffel Tower, further fueling the disinformation narrative.
Despite these efforts, the larger disinformation campaigns show little traction within France. French officials believe the real target may be the Russian audience, reinforcing Putin’s narrative that Russia’s war in Ukraine is a broader conflict with the West. The French military official emphasized that these campaigns aim to erode faith in the media and democratic governments, undermine NATO, and reduce Western support for Ukraine. Discrediting the Olympics, from which most Russian athletes are banned, is an additional objective.
On June 9, France’s far-right National Rally trounced Macron’s party in European Parliament elections. The National Rally has historically been close to Russia, with figures like Marine Le Pen supporting Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014. Jordan Bardella, a leading contender for prime minister from the National Rally, has opposed sending long-range weapons to Kyiv.
Antibot4navalny, a collective analyzing Russian bot behavior, reported that since mid-November, the majority of posts targeting European audiences focused on France and Germany. The data indicated a range of 100 to 200 weekly posts, with a notable drop during a holiday week in Russia.
Many of these posts redirect to sites that mimic major French media, but with altered domains and content. Some fake sites are registered in Wallis and Futuna, a remote French Pacific territory. These sites often redirect to real news pages to create an impression of authenticity. Other posts link to original content controlled by the campaign, dubbed Doppelganger.
Recent mirrored sites used AI-generated content to introduce bias against the Macron administration. Metrics tools embedded in these sites likely serve to demonstrate the effectiveness of the campaigns to those funding them.
Since June 2023, the French government cybersecurity watchdog, Viginum, has published multiple reports highlighting Russian efforts to sow divisions in France. Pro-Kremlin Telegram feeds have promoted a fake Netflix film criticizing the International Olympic Committee and fanning fears of violence at the Paris Games. The latest disinformation efforts, starting after the first round of elections on June 30, merge fears of violence related to both the Olympics and potential protests after the decisive second round.
Viginum’s recent report warns of the risks of disinformation leading up to the Olympics, emphasizing that digital manipulation campaigns have become a significant tool for destabilizing democracies. While Russia is not explicitly mentioned, the implications are clear.
French cybersecurity expert Baptiste Robert, who ran as an unaffiliated centrist in the legislative elections, urged the government and lawmakers to prepare for these digital threats. “This is a global policy of Russia: They really want to push people into the extremes,” he said. “It’s working perfectly right now.”
