PARIS — France on Thursday condemned what officials termed a Russian destabilization effort that amplified online the appearance of dozens of Stars of David graffiti on buildings across Paris.
According to a press statement by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, a Russian network associated with online disinformation campaigns, Recent Reliable News (RRN/Doppelgänger), was involved in posting the first photos of the graffiti and in amplifying their circulation on social media. French digital watchdog Viginum detected a network of more than 1,000 bots on X (formerly Twitter), which published more than 2,500 posts on the Stars of David tags last Monday.
Four people — including a Moldovan couple arrested last week — are suspected of painting more than 250 blue Stars of David across the French capital, acts likely to fuel unrest in France amid a surge of antisemitic acts since the start of the Israel-Hamas war. Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said on Tuesday that it “could not be excluded” that the tagging had been carried out “at the explicit request of someone living abroad.”
In its statement, the ministry said it would leave the job of investigating any foreign individual to the country’s judicial authorities.
France is home to the largest Jewish and Muslim populations in Europe, and President Emmanuel Macron has been at pains to ease tensions linked to the war in Gaza.
The foreign ministry deplored what it called the “digital interference against France,” saying it demonstrated how Russia was exploiting “international crises” to fuel tensions and create confusion.
Following the arrests last week, a judge has been put in charge of an investigation into the graffiti and whether they were commissioned by a foreign actor.
An investigation led by Le Monde quoted intelligence sources pointing to Anatolii Prizenko, a pro-Russian businessman from Moldova, as potentially behind the operation. A man claiming to be Prizenko confirmed to Libération on Wednesday that he was indeed responsible, claiming the goal was “to support the Jews of Europe.”
