If you look no further than LinkedIn, Mikhail's profile suggests nothing alarming at first glance. Besides a very typical student background in Russia and Ukraine, the page lists several Russian companies for which he has worked over the past 10 years. Yet the activities for which Mikhail (whos name has been changed) is now under suspicion bear no relation to his engineering or sales credentials: He is thought to be one of the cogs of a major propaganda operation linked to Russian military intelligence.
This propaganda network mainly exploits opinion articles and interviews by French public figures that are either aligned with Moscow's positions or highly critical of the French government, by widely sharing them to a Russian-speaking audience. The rhetorical devices vary, but they almost always focus on the same theme: Ukraine is losing the war and will drag its European allies down with it.
Le Monde has been able to identify several sections of this influence operation, which has been active for at least a year and relies on extensive subcontracting to keep its real masterminds out of sight. However, several elements point to a link between this operation and persons close to the GRU, the Russian military intelligence service. The operation's objective appears to be to "launder" talking points favorable to the Kremlin, through the use of foreign "experts" – notably French ones – which are then shared among Russian and Ukrainian populations.
According to correspondence seen by Le Monde, the aforementioned Mikhail – who is of Ukrainian origin – has approached at least one French journalist about writing articles on the Russian-Ukrainian geopolitical situation and conflict for him. In one of his requests, he said he was looking for writers to cover political topics. The tone and style of the articles given as examples leave no doubt as to their purpose: They are almost exclusively summaries of interviews or statements by well-known French pro-Russian public figures. The rates offered are particularly generous – five to six times what is generally paid in France.
Most of the articles given as examples by Mikhail seem to have been little read in France, but were broadcast on Russian-language pro-Putin propaganda channels. Mikhail mentioned, for example, an article published on the English-language website Eureporter.co, which publishes articles for a fee, featuring comments on the war in Ukraine made by the French far-right politician Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, who has a history of promoting conspiracy theories.
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