Lies, Damn Lies and russian Lies

As the age-old adage declares explicitly, there are lies, damn lies and russian lies.

The kremlin has been accused of lying, distorting and deceiving in international affairs, sports, academics and commerce for since the start of the modern era but now France and other countries have proven the point.

They uncovered a wide-ranging russian disinformation campaign to undermine Western support for Ukraine, according to country’s agency in charge of spotting foreign interference online recently announced.

“The involvement of Russian embassies and cultural centers that actively participated in amplifying this campaign, including via their institutional accounts on social networks, is a further illustration of the hybrid strategy Russia is implementing to undermine the conditions for democratic debate,” French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.

According to French watchdog Viginum’s report, the campaign consisted of spreading pro-russian content; impersonating media such as Le Monde, Le Figaro and Le Parisien, as well as government websites including France’s ministry of European and foreign affairs; creating websites on francophone news with polarizing angles; and coordinating fake accounts to spread the content created.

France condemned what it called hostile disinformation maneuvers after the country’s authorities accused russia of operating a long-running online manipulation campaign against Ukraine’s Western supporters, in the lead up to the second anniversary of russia’s bloody war against Ukraine which will be in 10 days.

The French foreign ministry said in a statement “no manipulation attempt will distract France from its support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s war of aggression.”

Earlier, French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné said a network called “Portal Kombat” composed of at least 193 websites had been set up with the aim “to spread Russian disinformation,” speaking alongside his German and Polish counterparts after a meeting near Paris involving Ukraine-related talks and other issues.

Séjourné said “Russia seeks to destroy Europe’s unity and even worse, wants to make our democracies exhausted … by blurring the limit between real and fake (news), by manipulating information.”

Viginum said the campaign involves websites using the name “pravda” targeting countries including France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom and the United States. “Very ideologically oriented, this content repeatedly presents inaccurate or misleading narratives,” the report said.

It said the network also involves social media, including Telegram, through “massive content sharing automation.”

French foreign ministry officials said in a media briefing that russia has stepped up efforts to manipulate information and spread deception, targeting Kyiv’s allies in the West. They referred to messages on social media platforms such as X, formerly Twitter, and websites like Sputnik as “massive in scope” and “complex in structure.”

The aim of Russia’s disinformation campaign remains the same, officials said: To amplify Russia’s success in its war against Ukraine, justify its invasion, discredit and diminish Ukraine’s military resistance and undermine civilians’ resilience in the face of daily attacks on cities and towns, and fracture Western support for Ukraine’s military and slow if not stop supply with weapons Kyiv.

Officials added that russia’s disinformation campaign goes beyond the war in Ukraine. In a year of high-stake elections in the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States, French officials say moscow is working to confuse and scare voters, discredit some candidates and support others, and disrupt mega sporting events such as the Paris Olympics and the European soccer championship in Germany.

The ministry also accused russia of being behind the stenciling of Jewish stars last November on walls in Paris and its suburbs, causing alarm about the safety of France’s Jewish community, the largest in Europe.

Caveat emptor: The next time to read something about russia, especially if it’s complimentary, take note that it may by a lie, a damn lie or a russian lie.