Russia assures not to “interfere” in France

Moscow also denies any disinformation campaign targeting the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Russia assured on Tuesday June 4 that “not interfere” in France, in reaction to suspicions targeting her after the discovery of coffins near the Eiffel Tower, and denied any disinformation campaign targeting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris. “Russia has not interfered and does not interfere in the internal affairs of France, our country has more important priorities,” said the Russian embassy in Paris in a press release.

“The Russian Embassy in France expresses its strong protest against a new Russophobic campaign launched in the French media”, she added. She mentioned a “hysteria” dangerous for Russian citizens in France, particularly for embassy staff, and expressed solidarity with “French citizens who have been the subject of a witch hunt simply because they favor preserving the long-standing bonds of friendship between our countries.”

The embassy called on the French authorities to “end” at this “anti-Russian information campaign”. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitri Peskov, for his part, denied any disinformation campaign targeting the Olympic Games planned for this summer in Paris, calling it “pure slander” a report from a Microsoft observatory accusing Russia of having intensified these efforts. Dmitri Peskov assured journalists that these accusations “have nothing to do with reality”.

Moscow is suspected of several acts of destabilization in France in recent months, including the recent placing at the foot of the Eiffel Tower in Paris of coffins bearing the inscription “French soldiers of Ukraine”. Three men suspected of being involved in the affair – a Bulgarian, a man born in Germany and a man born in Ukraine – were presented to a French judge on Monday.

The Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), managed by Microsoft, also implicated two groups of Russian influence, Storm-1679 and Storm-1099, accused of “sowing fear to dissuade spectators from attending the Games” Olympics. MTAC expects that these activities “intensify” as the opening ceremony approaches.