Though there was a time when the Kremlin was mainly concentrated on attempts to kick France out of Africa and deprive it of access to the natural resources in the region, now Moscow is increasing the number of subversive operations on the territory of France. Bloomberg agency confirmed our previous conclusions that by supporting the coup in Niger Russia intended to take over France-held uranium assets in the country. Moreover, we are convinced that the Russian infiltration in Chad is aimed at seizing the resources of this country.
More on this story: Niger coup: Russia likely behind
Moscow’s subversives in Paris is targeted at destabilizing the political situation in the country and discreditingPresident Emanuel Macron. According to the data we have, Russian military intelligence plays the key role in this activity, this service has practiced influence operations technique in the ‘yellow vest’ movement.
On June 3, French police arrested three foreign nationals accusing them of having deposited five coffins draped in French flags at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. The flags bore the inscription “French Soldiers of Ukraine”, while the coffins were found to contain sacks of plaster, according to media reports. The reports quoted French intelligence officials as saying that the stunt was likely a Russian operation aimed at influencing French public opinion against a potential military involvement in Ukraine. Noteworthy is the fact that simultaneously Russia is conducting influence operations with a same narrative both within Russia and in the recipient country. Thus, one can predict operations taking into consideration the date and narrative issued in Russia.
Close circuit television footage led French police to the driver of a van that carried the coffins to the Eiffel Tower at 9:00 a.m. local time on Saturday. The 34-year-old driver, identified as “Georgi F.”, is believed to be a Bulgarian national. Obviously, Russia has returned to the practice of involving Bulgarian citizens in active intelligence operations, as Moscow did during the Cold War.
The Bulgarian told police he had arrived in Paris from Bulgaria on Friday and had been paid €40 by two other men to help transport the coffins to the iconic Paris monument. The two men, who allegedly paid the Bulgarian national, were arrested shortly afterwards while they were preparing to board a bus to Germany. One of them is believed to be a German national, while the other is said to hold Ukrainian citizenship, probably from among refugees or the one recruited by Russia on the occupied territories.
The two men allegedly told French police they had been paid €400 to transport the coffins. French authorities reportedly believe the stunt was “organized from abroad” and that “Russian agents” may be behind it. There are allegations that the individual who paid the men can be the same person who organized a similar stunt in May. In the early hours of May 14, someone defaced the Wall of the Righteous at the Mémorial de la Shoah, which includes the Holocaust museum in Paris’ 4th arrondissement. The names of nearly 4,000 people who helped save Jews in France are inscribed on that wall.Last November, French authorities accused Russia of being behind stenciled images of Stars of David that had mysteriously appeared in the streets of Paris in late October. At least two of those arrested in the ensuing days were Moldovan nationals. The Paris prosecutor said at the time that the culprits had been in contact with a Russian-speaking individual who had offered to pay them in exchange for graffiting the stars. Some reports speculated that the graffiti may have been part of a campaign by a “foreign actor trying to undermine French social cohesion”. Undoubtedly, Russian intelligence is behind the coffin subversive act, since we have caught similar actionscarried out inside Russia.
