Russian propaganda paid significant attention to the unrest in France, which broke out on the night of June 28. While the streets of French cities were restless, Russian propagandists launched a fireworks display of manipulation in the information space.
The Kremlin regime became more aggressive and tried to compensate for its image losses following the Prigozhin’s coup. Russian propagandists predict a conflict between the ideas of multiculturalism and nationalism that will tear Europe apart. They rejoice that the influx of immigrants into Europe will contribute to this.
Let’s cite the messages and narratives of propaganda they used during the turmoil:
- Clashes are evidence of the decline of Western civilization.
- In France, there is a civil divide along the lines of descendants of former colonial migrants against nationalist France. These are the consequences of the “dirty colonial chapters of Paris.”
- The influx of migrants was a result of NATO operations and support for Ukraine.
- France will respond with nationalism. Following this, a crisis will hit Italy and Germany, and in these and other countries, far-right parties will come to power.
- In the clashes in France, weapons supplied by the West to Ukraine were noticed. “Maidan activists and Bandera followers” also took part in the unrest.
- In the West, protests are dispersed with force, but Russia is hypocritically criticized for similar actions.
- By supporting Ukraine, France brought upon itself riots in its cities.
- The clashes were provoked by US financiers who want to economically undermine Europe.
Personal attacks against Macron
At the same time, Russians personally targeted French President Emmanuel Macron.
“What is the reason for such instability in France? The answer lies in the policies of the current President Macron,” wrote the Chairman of the State Duma, Volodin.
“Trust in Macron is declining. Ratings have dropped to a minimum. And if presidential elections were held now, Marine Le Pen would win,” he added.
Through Telegram, videos of Macron were circulated with comments suggesting that he was enjoying a concert by Elton John when the country’s unrest began. There were also videos showing protesters burning effigies of Macron with the caption: “Public “executions” of President Macron continue in France.”
The propaganda also attacked the entire power system in France, arguing that the protests were a result of the government’s failure to “listen to the people”.
Former President of Russia, Medvedev, in his characteristic manner, wrote on Twitter: “Macron said several times that he is on the side of Ukraine. Perhaps it’s time to put an end to this verbal nonsense and take the side of France.”
On Telegram, Medvedev also quoted Gogol regarding the events in France: “I see nothing. I see some pig snouts instead of faces, and nothing more…”
Russia is anticipating a destructive conflict between multiculturalism and nationalists
The main line of propaganda is to present the social order of the West as its fatal vulnerability. It claims that it’s all due to a failed migration policy, multiculturalism that has collapsed, and Europe has lost its culture. Russian propagandist Elena Kondratyeva-Salgero, who works in France, stated that current events are being used by all left-wing countries to mobilize people. According to her, these clashes “finally allowed almost all television channels to call things by their names on live broadcasts — things that were absolute taboos — and this is very good.”
Propagandist Solovyov quoted French politician Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who, according to information from Ukrainian journalists at Texty, is actively spreading Russian narratives. The politician stated that “France needs to leave the Schengen zone to prevent further unrest.”
Henry Sardaryan, the Dean of the Faculty of Management and Politics at Moscow State Institute of International Relations, stated on Russian television that it is a “failure of the open-door policy, a failure of integration policy: if you destroy your own culture, there is nowhere to integrate people. It is a farewell to the illusion that Europe can be a melting pot and accept everyone; it is the defeat of multiculturalism policy. It is the failure of the political system that has developed in France. But let no one focus solely on France because the same will soon happen in Italy and Germany. Almost in all major countries with problems of illegal migration, we will soon see a similar situation. Catastrophic problems are happening across the entire territory of Europe. In Italy, there is Lampedusa Island. In the past three days, twenty times more migrants have arrived there than the average for 22 years. The authorities are unable to cope with this. Very soon, in both France and Italy, we will witness the rise of far-right radicalism. When you, like in France, see houses burning, entire streets in chaos, the natural reaction of the average voter — a European tradition — when people are afraid, they vote for the right-wing, and when they are very afraid — for the far-right. We will see a significant shift in these states towards radical and fringe politics.”
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LDPR (Liberal Democratic Party of Russia) leader Leonid Slutsky also emphasized illegal migrants and stated “The increase in the flow of refugees and illegal migrants to the countries of the Old World is directly related to the NATO coalitions’ invasions of Iraq, Libya, Syria, as well as the support for the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine. The French leadership got carried away with helping Ukraine and completely forgot about its own country, where numerous problems have accumulated.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, at a briefing on June 28, the day after the first night of unrest, accused France of neocolonialism, mirroring the accusations against Russia and its behavior in African countries in the usual manner.
“The world community remembers the dark pages of Paris’s colonial policies, which seek to exploit the resources of the continent, camouflaging their neocolonial methods and schemes with false rhetoric and imaginary care for the well-being of Africans,” she noted.
This was her response to Emmanuel Macron’s statement that Russia is the “only colonial power of the 21st century,” engaged in imperialistic wars and destabilizing African countries.
During a briefing on July 6th, Zakharova hinted that the violence began due to police chauvinism and a rise in racism in France.
“Any form of police violence towards citizens is unacceptable, especially if it is motivated by a person’s ethnicity. We cannot ignore the general increase in xenophobia, hostile attitudes towards migrants, and manifestations of anti-Semitism in France lately. The French authorities should seriously address the growing societal radicalization and pay close attention to the rise of xenophobic and racist sentiments in the country,” she said.
At the same time, the propaganda seemed to suggest an answer to the French, quoting Marine Le Pen: “While our country is being plundered, facing economic and judicial chaos, do you agree that there can only be one answer — a nationalist one?”
These narratives demonstrate how Russian propaganda simultaneously promotes two opposing positions to provoke their collision and radicalization.
On one hand, there is a nationalist message about the failure of multiculturalism and flawed immigration policies, particularly attributed to NATO. On the other hand, there is the contradictory international message about the rise of xenophobic and racist sentiments and the “colonial guilt,” in this case, directed at Paris. It is clear that Moscow is indifferent to any principle except one — advancing its dominance by sowing chaos and weakening others. It can be assumed that Putinism will continue to attempt to exploit the racist card, inflaming interethnic conflicts.
The idea is being imposed that France deserved the riots in its cities because of its support for Ukraine.
The host, Gia Saralidze, “burned bridges” with France and depicted “righteous anger” — questioning why Russia doesn’t peacefully destroy Ukraine: “When they send weapons that kill our people in Donbas and our soldiers — no empathy, the worse, the better. Let it burn. Paris, Lyon, Nantes — let them burn. There’s no compassion. All the idealistic images that evoked stories about France, French literature — they belong to the past.”
Hooligans armed with weapons from Ukraine
The propaganda attempted to introduce a fake narrative that directly undermined assistance to Ukraine.
It was raised to a significant level as Zakharova made a statement: “I will bring up another topic for reflection in Paris. The weapons supplied to Kyiv end up in the hands of the same protesters and are used against the police there in France.”
The message was also worked on by other channels of disinformation. For example, war correspondent Aleksandr Kots, the creator of the myth about the “glorious warriors from Hostomel” near Kyiv in March 2022, quoted French pro-Russian politician Eric Zemmour (who is also listed in the database of Ukrainian investigative journalists as an agent of Russian influence in Europe).
“Today, in the context of the conflict in Ukraine and the uncontrolled circulation of NATO-supplied weapons to Ukraine, it is obvious that these weapons are actively being used in France during the current unrest,” noted Kots.
The narrative created to scare Europeans: “not only automatic weapons but also compact modern sniper rifles and Javelin anti-tank missile systems” are making their way to the black market of Europe.
Citing a supposedly Polish website, which has previously been exposed as fake, Telegram propagandist Solovyov spread the following quote: “Opening the borders to Ukrainian refugees was a fatal mistake. It’s like opening the gates to hell, from which devils are now coming out”: the Polish magazine Niezalezny Dziennik Polityczny reports that Ukrainian refugees took part in mass riots in France for money.
During the unrest in France, Ukrainians actively participate in the so-called “paid attacks.” In other words, former protesters from Maidan are willing to take any side of the conflict for money, but the destructive side is, of course, more attractive to any Bandera activist.
This intersects with the persistent pro-Russian narrative, which attempts to demonize Ukrainian refugees. The message about Ukrainian weapons during the riots did not gain traction in France, but it can be expected that it will appear in the future to attract the attention of a public prone to uncritical consumption of information and conspiratorial thinking.
A similar message is about foreign volunteers who fought for Ukraine and now pose a threat to Europe: “But the most interesting thing is that Europe is also suffering from the mercenaries who tasted blood in Ukraine. In April, two of them were arrested in France. They brought back with them ammunition and rifle stocks. And in November of last year, five members of the local neo-Nazi group Orden Hagal were arrested in Italy, which had connections with the Ukrainian Azov Regiment — they were planning an attack on a police station in Naples.”
Furthermore, Russians attempted to manipulatively equate the riots in France, aimed at creating disorder and looting, with protests in the former Soviet Union for democracy and the European path, including the Revolution of Dignity in Ukraine.
The propagandists claimed that France was allegedly at risk of losing control over its nuclear weapons, echoing the comments made about Russia after the military coup attempt by Prigozhin.
One of them, Nikolai Starikov, once again “exposed” an American conspiracy and claimed that the clashes were instigated by the United States to move production to America: “The economy of Europe will collapse. Europe will turn into a country of green pastures where goats and cows graze. And the factories will be located in the USA.”
The way the protests in France were covered overall fits into the Russian narrative of weakening Europe and the possible rise of ultra-right politicians, “friends of the Kremlin.”
Originally posted by Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security on Glavcom.ua. Translated and edited by the UaPosition – Ukrainian news and analytics website
See also: How Russia is attacking the European Union with disinformation
