French urged to watch out for Russian interference

The French domestic intelligence service has asked police to pass up any signals of apparent operations by Russian agents

French citizens are being urged to report signs of Russian manipulation in advance of this year's Paris Olympics.

A note from the domestic intelligence service DGSI has called on police to pass up even "weak signals" of apparent operations conducted by Russian agents.

It warned that Russian "proxies" could exploit sensitive issues to "amplify dissensions" in French society.

Similar disinformation operations have taken place in other European countries.

According to the note - which was seen by news agency AFP - Russian intelligence has put in place "alternative methods that mobilise networks of 'proxies' with the aim of conducting interference."

Many of these 'proxies', it says, are members of Russian-speaking communities in Eastern Europe, some of whom may be visiting France for a short stay, others "installed for a long time either legally or illegally".

The template for these "acts of interference" in French society was the spraying of Stars of David on walls in Paris last October, shortly after Hamas-led gunmen attacked Israel, killing at least 1,200 people.

But the note warns that the Russian campaign is aimed at "amplifying dissensions and internal fractures in French society" by focusing on any useful theme - from pension reform to "denigrating the Olympic Games".

The DGSI says that "in the current geopolitical context, and as France prepares to host the Olympic Games," police must "systematically" raise the alert after any hint of Russian activity.

French intelligence believes that the Stars of David operation was carried out by Russian-speaking Moldavians, under the direction of the FSB (the Russian state security agency).

According to Le Monde newspaper, quoting another DGSI memorandum, the graffiti was part of a Europe-wide campaign "to divide opinion and weaken governments" launched by the FSB's Fifth Division, which has charge of international operations.

Other disinformation operations - some also carried out by Moldavians - have taken place recently in Poland, Spain, Latvia and Germany, the memorandum says.

The warnings come as the French government steps up its rhetoric against Russia, with the clear aim of raising public awareness of the threat posed to France and other European nations.

Speaking at a European summit on Ukraine in Paris on Monday, President Macron for the first time raised the issue of sending ground troops to Ukraine, refusing to rule it out as a possibility. This idea was rebuffed the following day by his German counterpart Olaf Scholz and by Nato General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg.

Elysée officials warned over the weekend of growing "Russian aggression" in cyberspace, and of "activism in the field of information… using methods which are both violent and very basic."

The officials cited a recent faked report - purporting to be on the international channel France 24 and spread on pro-Russian social media - that President Macron had cancelled a visit to Ukraine because of an assassination plot.

A recent French government information campaign - entitled "Russian Disinformation" - also urges the public to raise the alert, stating that "public denunciation is one of the main levers in the fight against information attacks."