A large-scale disinformation campaign about Russiaʼs war in Ukraine was exposed in France

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France announced the discovery of a large-scale scheme spreading disinformation about Russiaʼs war in Ukraine.

CNN writes about it.

A report by Franceʼs Service for Surveillance and Protection Against Foreign Digital Interference (VIGINUM) mentions fake Internet pages impersonating media and government sites, as well as hundreds of fake URLs on social networks spreading Russian war propaganda.

From June 2022 to May 2023, there were 355 web domains on the Internet that published pro-Russian content, masquerading as publications from Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.

In France, 58 fake articles were found in four media, in particular in the well-known newspapers Le Monde and Figaro. In one case, a site similar to that of the French Foreign Ministry wrote about a fake "security tax" to help Ukraine.

French authorities also discovered more than 160 Facebook pages that posted more than 600 links to fake websites and articles.

VIGINUM links several Russian nationals responsible for developing the fake URLs to this campaign. The department added that the campaign is still active, despite the exposure and measures taken by Meta and Twitter.

• In New Zealand, an employee of the national television and radio company RNZ added pro-Russian theses to journalistic materials about Ukraine. He was sent on leave and the incident was investigated.