An American disinformation watchdog has uncovered yet another wave of Russian information attacks — this time aimed squarely at a French audience. “France has become the target of a disinformation campaign: five fake news stories identified by NewsGuard on social media platforms garnered nearly 56 million views. AI is accelerating this phenomenon,” reported Les Échos. “The operation is unprecedented in scale, blending violent imagery with sexual and financial scandals. Behind it all is a familiar Russian network, powered by artificial intelligence tools working in the background.”
The campaign has made its way across all major social media platforms — X, Facebook, Instagram, and others. According to NewsGuard, Russian propagandists posted nearly 39,000 items between December and March, racking up 55.8 million views. French Prime Minister François Bayrou has warned that France is “second only to Ukraine among the countries constantly targeted by Russian disinformation agents.”
At the heart of these fake stories are some familiar names: Emmanuel Macron, his wife Brigitte, Volodymyr Zelensky — and a fabricated “migrant from Chad” who allegedly confesses on video to raping a 12-year-old girl. According to NewsGuard, the network behind this latest barrage of disinformation is “Storm-1516,” a Russian operation believed to be run by John Mark Dougan, a former Florida deputy sheriff now living in Moscow. Since 2023, NewsGuard says it has tracked 51 false stories linked to the group, targeting multiple countries — including the US, Les Échos reports.
Disinformation doesn’t drop randomly, either. “These dumps tend to coincide with moments when France increases its military backing for Ukraine, or when Emmanuel Macron makes outspoken declarations in support of Kyiv,” notes French broadcaster LCI. The impact has been startling: the campaign has been so effective, the channel adds, that it’s as if 8 in 10 French citizens have come across at least one of the fake stories.
The most-watched fake is a video showing “masked terrorists” warning of an imminent attack at Notre-Dame — it’s racked up 17 million views. The false story about the so-called rapist has been seen 13 million times. Third on the list is a fabricated claim that Volodymyr Zelensky bought the French bank Milleis for €1.2 billion — allegedly using funds provided by Western governments to support Ukraine.
The French press has pointed to the role of “Storm-1516” in all this, a Russian network that works closely with bot farms originally set up by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the late head of the Wagner mercenary group. The disinformation machine relies heavily on artificial intelligence. One example: a fake video alleging that France’s First Lady had sexually harassed one of her students, narrated by a character who doesn’t actually exist — his face and voice entirely generated by AI.
According to commentators on LCI, France and the UK have emerged as prime targets of Russian disinformation efforts, largely because both countries are currently among the strongest backers of Kyiv. A growing number of French citizens are beginning to grasp that Russia sees them as adversaries — using disinformation as a weapon to sow division and destabilise society.
But these hostile tactics didn’t start yesterday. They date back to at least 2018–19, when Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner Group helped orchestrate coups in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso — moves that directly undermined French influence in Africa. At the time, only experts were raising the alarm about the Kremlin’s openly antagonistic stance towards Paris. Now, it’s France’s civil society and mainstream press that are finally calling attention to the threat.
Radio Franceinfo has also flagged another key player in the Kremlin’s propaganda machine: the Agency for Social Engineering (ASE). Journalists at the outlet obtained an internal document titled International Conflict Studies, in which the organisation’s goals are laid out with chilling clarity — to “intensify internal tensions in US-allied countries,” “artificially create conflict situations,” and “influence public opinion”… all in the name of “advancing the interests of the Russian Federation.”
The agency is led by Ilya Gambashidze, a figure who stands apart from the usual cast of disinformation operatives. Unlike many of his counterparts, Gambashidze doesn’t hail from the security services, the criminal underworld, or Vladimir Putin’s inner circle. However, for fifteen years, he has been an active communicator, collaborating with both local and national Russian institutions. In a promotional video, he touts his work while dressed in military uniform, complete with the badge of Russia’s fictional ideological troops pinned to his lapel, Franceinfo reports.
One document specifically prepared for France outlines a strategy by the Agency for Social Engineering (ASE) aimed at boosting the far-right National Rally party’s popularity, as well as “amplifying fear” within the country and “weakening support for Ukraine.” The question now is whether the French will be able to withstand the relentless flood of Moscow’s fakes. One can only hope that common sense prevails, although, on the whole, the country’s media literacy remains worryingly low.
