Four Bulgarians convicted in France for desecrating Holocaust memorial on orders from Russia

On Friday, the Paris Criminal Court handed down sentences to four Bulgarian citizens in a case involving the desecration of a Holocaust memorial in 2024, which was classified as an act of interference by Russia. This revelation was reported by Le Monde.

“Red hands” appeared on the Holocaust memorial on the night of May 13-14, 2024, as well as on several buildings in the 4th and 5th districts of Paris. The symbols are believed to be a reference to the killing of two Israeli soldiers in Ramallah in 2000.

Georgi Filipov and Kiril Milushev, who were found guilty of committing the crime, were sentenced to two years in prison, while Nikolay Ivanov and Mircho Angelov, who are believed to have organized the operation, were sentenced to four and three years, respectively.

All four were also banned from entering France for life. Of the four, only Angelov remains at large.

The four Bulgarian citizens were not tried for acting on behalf of a foreign state, as this aggravating circumstance was only added to the French Criminal Code after the incident occurred.

This trial was the first of its kind in France for crimes committed on the instructions of a foreign state—in this case, Russia—with the aim of provoking destabilization in the country.

In the indictment, the Paris judges stated that foreign interference was “indisputable” and aimed to “stir up public opinion, exploit existing divisions, and further fragment French society.”

The vandalism was staged during heightened tensions in France over the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas that broke out in October 2023.

Other suspicious incidents include cases where Stars of David were painted on the walls of buildings in Paris, fake coffins of “French soldiers killed in Ukraine” were placed near the Eiffel Tower, and pig heads were thrown into mosques in Paris.