French elections are months away. Russian disinformation in French has been running for years.
With French municipal elections scheduled for March 15 and 22, 2026, and the presidential election approaching in 2027, Russian information operations targeting France have moved into a new phase of intensity. As RBC Ukraine reported, France’s Ministry of Armed Forces has warned of a high risk of online manipulation and disinformation ahead of the vote. The Center for Countering Disinformation notes that the most likely threats are fake news, information leaks, and coordinated attempts to influence voters—with interference aimed at undermining trust in political institutions and destabilising the electoral process.
The warning is not hypothetical. In 2025, analysts from Insikt Group identified 140 websites posing as French media outlets, around 20 of which presented themselves as local publications. Some spread fabricated stories linking President Emmanuel Macron to the Jeffrey Epstein case. Behind these campaigns is the Russian disinformation network Storm-1516, which uses social media, fake websites, and artificial intelligence to spread disinformation at scale, amplifying narratives through troll farms that create the illusion of mass public support.
The pattern fits a broader European trend, as Le Monde reported. Russian interference activity has also been detected ahead of elections in Germany, and analysts emphasise that the activation of such campaigns reflects a systemic strategy: discrediting democratic institutions, weakening European solidarity, and creating information instability at critical political moments. Chatbots in the Baltic states were found to have been poisoned with Russian propaganda content, while rumours on X accused the United Kingdom and France of supplying nuclear-tipped missiles to Ukraine — a claim that went on to be picked up and amplified across pro-Kremlin French-language media.
European institutions are responding. On February 24, the European Commission inaugurated the European Center for Democratic Resilience, aimed at coordinating member states’ responses to rising disinformation. “This will strengthen our resilience, ensure that European public debate remains open and fair, and empower citizens to participate in democratic life,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. The initiative is part of the European Democratic Shield, launched in June 2024.
Weeks earlier, France’s General Secretariat for Defence and National Security (SGDSN) presented its own national strategy to combat information manipulation, operating on the principle that “the first line of defence against information manipulation is society itself,” as Le Monde notes. The approach is designed to complement the Digital Services Act, implemented in August 2023, which has already triggered investigations into X and TikTok over suspected foreign interference.
Yet while institutions build defences, the pro-Kremlin information ecosystem continues to operate openly. Three outlets are central to this effort: RT en Français, Sputnik Afrique, and Réseau International. Together they produce and amplify narratives designed to erode trust in French leadership, frame the Russian-Ukrainian war as a Western provocation, and prime French-language audiences ahead of every electoral cycle.
Three outlets, one message
RT en Français and Sputnik Afrique are Russian state-controlled outlets operating under Rossiya Segodnya, the Kremlin’s international media holding. Although RT is technically blocked in the EU under sanctions introduced after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, its French-language website remains accessible through mirrors and continues to publish regularly. Sputnik Afrique primarily targets Francophone African audiences, but its content circulates in France through social media and aggregator republication.
Reseau International presents itself as an independent French outlet but systematically publishes content advancing pro-Kremlin positions, including translated materials from Strategic Culture Foundation—an outlet designated by the United States Treasury as a Russian intelligence cut-out. The site does not disclose funding sources or editorial ownership. A recurring contributor, Lucas Leiroz, also publishes regularly on Strategic Culture Foundation and consistently relays Russian official and intelligence framing as independent European analysis.
Macron compared to Eichmann, French officers accused of lying
The most aggressive content on Reseau International goes beyond political criticism into direct character attacks on French leadership. An article by Valérie Bérenger on the site compares Macron to Adolf Eichmann — the Nazi SS officer executed in 1962 for organising the mass deportation of Jews to death camps — describing both as mediocre bureaucrats who enable atrocities by following orders without reflection.
The piece accuses Macron of lying when he stated that Russia is experiencing a military, economic, and strategic failure in Ukraine. It cites Institute for the Study of War data on Russian territorial advances selectively — noting Russia gained more ground in 2024 than in the previous two years combined, while omitting ISW assessments of unsustainable Russian casualty rates and degraded offensive capacity.
The article claims 1.7 million Ukrainians have died, attributed vaguely to “American services” without a source, and describes Ukrainian soldiers as being rounded up by force from streets and homes. Brigadier General Armel Dirou, head of the Task Force Ukraine ministerial coordination cell, is quoted and then attacked for repeating official French positions and accused of dishonesty and cowardice. The piece closes by warning French readers that their children will soon be conscripted unless they “wake “up”—drawing a direct line between Macron’s Ukraine policy and domestic militarisation ahead of the 2026 and 2027 electoral cycles.
- https://reseauinternational.net/emmanuel-macron-ou-la-banalite-du-mensonge/
The same outlet frames Macron’s government more broadly as a regime destroying France from within. A separate article amplifying statements by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev—published on Sputnik Afrique—quotes him calling Macron’s administration a regime that “is turning France into a bankrupt state,” adding that “France was perhaps once a great country of great thinkers, great scientists and great writers. But that is no longer the case today.” The article presents itself as straightforward political news.
- https://fr.sputniknews.africa/20241218/le-regime-de-macron-transforme-la-france-en-un-etat-en-faillite-selon-le-president-azerbaidjanais-1069776549.html
France and the UK accused of sending nuclear weapons to Ukraine
A more operationally targeted narrative attributes specific covert actions to Paris and London. An article by Lucas Leiroz, published on Reseau International and sourced to Strategic Culture Foundation, claims that France and the UK are coordinating a plan to transfer nuclear weapons or radiological devices to Ukraine, with components delivered separately to enable plausible deniability.
The article presents SVR—Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service—releases as factual reporting, states that Russia’s nuclear doctrine now permits responses against any actor participating in such transfers, and warns that “all actions Russia deems necessary” could follow. Germany is said to have declined to participate due to the “highly destabilising” potential of the plan.
The article contains no independent verification of the SVR claims, no named sources outside Russian government statements, and no attempt to seek comment from French or British officials. It is structured as a news report but functions as a direct amplification of Russian intelligence messaging.
- https://reseauinternational.net/la-france-et-le-royaume-uni-rapprochent-lhorloge-nucleaire-de-minuit/
Macron’s nuclear policy framed as sovereignty betrayal
Following Macron’s March 2 speech at the Ile Longue military base—in which he announced a concept of “advanced deterrence”, inviting eight European partners to participate in joint exercises with French strategic forces and announcing an increase in the number of French nuclear warheads—all three outlets framed the announcement not as a defence policy decision but as a surrender of French sovereignty and a provocation toward Russia.
RT en Français described the policy as a “strategic rupture” imposed without parliamentary debate, calling it a shift “justified by Russian and Chinese threats that have never materialised.” The outlet quoted French MP Thomas Portes calling it a “dangerous arms race,” without contextualising his position within broader French political debate.
- https://francais.rt.com/france/131095-independance-ne-peut-etre-solitude
An earlier RT article had already laid the groundwork, quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov characterising Macron’s nuclear statements as “very dangerous” and accusing Europe of seeking to “add to the root causes of the Ukrainian conflict” rather than resolve them.
- https://francais.rt.com/russie/118364-kremlin-met-garde-contre-declarations-de-macron-et-militarisation-de-europe
RT en Français also amplified Maria Zakharova’s response to European defence statements in November 2025, quoting her declaring, “Now there is no longer any doubt about who is the aggressor,” and accusing NATO of “passing itself off as a victim while being the real driver of escalation.” The article additionally quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warning that “militarist and bellicose rhetoric is heard more and more in European capitals” while insisting Russia has “no supporters of confrontation with NATO.”
- https://francais.rt.com/russie/127451-zakharova-repond-ministre-allemand-defense-il-n-y-a-plus-de-doute-sur-qui-est-l-agresseur
Sputnik Afrique published a clip featuring French MEP Herve Juvin, who argued Macron is “tempted to trade what remains of France’s independence” for deeper European integration of security forces, including nuclear weapons. The outlet amplified his claim that France is “probably more dependent on its so-called American ally than it was 30 years ago,” framing the deterrence partnership not as a defence posture but as national humiliation.
- https://fr.sputniknews.africa/20260303/1083958229.html
A separate Sputnik Afrique article quoted Moscow’s foreign ministry stating that Macron’s declarations represent “nuclear blackmail” and that Russia “has never threatened Paris.” The framing positions France as the aggressor and Russia as a reluctant target.
- https://fr.sputniknews.africa/20250306/moscou-denonce-des-airs-de-chantage-nucleaire-dans-le-dernier-discours-de-macron-1070959125.html
Reseau International framed the same Ile Longue speech as a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the 1990 Treaty on German Reunification, which restricts Germany’s access to nuclear weapons. Germany is cast as the primary beneficiary of French deterrence, with the Franco-German nuclear steering group described as “opening Pandora’s box.” The article warns that any French Rafale landing on a Polish or German base “can be considered a nuclear vector” by Russia — language that mirrors Russian official justification framing for potential military responses.
- https://reseauinternational.net/macron-dispatche-larme-nucleaire-francaise-pour-des-pays-etrangers/
Russia is winning and Western losses are hidden
A parallel narrative running across all three outlets reframes the military situation in Ukraine to suggest that Western governments, including France, are concealing the true scale of Ukrainian defeats.
Sputnik Afrique published an article in November 2025 claiming that the encirclements near Kupiansk and Krasnoarmiisk (how Russia calls Pokrovsk) represent a defeat “too serious to hide,” accusing Zelenskyy and his command of sacrificing Ukrainian soldiers to “prolong the fighting”, and alleging that foreign journalists are being denied access to prevent the truth from emerging.
- https://fr.sputniknews.africa/20251102/1080140915.html
RT en Français published an article stating that “the balance of power has shifted irreversibly,” that Russia’s strategy “is now imposing itself on all fronts,” and that Moscow considers the moment has come to impose a settlement on its terms.
- https://francais.rt.com/international/127609-ukraine-face-au-choix-entre-paix-et-effondrement-du-regime-zelensky
Reseau International has published multiple articles asserting that Russia’s military advances prove Western leaders are deceiving their publics. Headlines such as “Ukrainian forces crushed” and “Russia wins, Zelensky folds, Europe watches” are typical. These pieces consistently cite casualty figures without sourcing, reproduce Russian military claims as fact, and frame Ukrainian resistance not as resilience but as prolonged suffering engineered by Western governments for financial and political gain.
- https://reseauinternational.net/les-forces-ukrainiennes-ecrasees-la-reponse-cinglante-du-general-alaudinov-sur-lechec-de-la-prise-de-kourtchatov/
- https://reseauinternational.net/plan-secret-trump-la-russie-gagne-zelensky-plie-leurope-regarde-2/
A coordinated architecture ahead of French elections
The narratives documented above are not isolated opinion pieces. They form a coherent information architecture designed to achieve specific objectives: delegitimising Macron as a dishonest warmonger, framing France’s nuclear deterrence policy as a sovereignty betrayal, amplifying fear of nuclear escalation, presenting Russia as a defensive actor rather than an aggressor, and suggesting that the real threat to French citizens comes from their government.
The outlets occupy distinct but complementary roles. RT en Français and Sputnik Afrique provide the primary messaging layer, aligned directly with Kremlin statements and Russian military claims. Reseau International functions as an amplification and laundering layer, packaging the same narratives in the voice of anonymous European authors or contributors with links to Russian intelligence-adjacent institutions, giving the content the appearance of independent French analysis.
When Sputnik Afrique quotes a French MEP, when RT frames Kremlin warnings as legitimate security concerns, when Reseau International anonymously compares Macron to a Nazi war criminal and republishes SVR intelligence claims as journalism, they are advancing the same objective through different registers of the same operation.
France’s intelligence services, the SGDSN (General Secretariat for Defence and National Security), and the European institutions now backing the Center for Democratic Resilience have identified this pattern. The Digital Services Act investigations into X and TikTok, the European Democratic Shield, and national media literacy programmes all represent genuine steps forward.
But RT en Français continues to publish behind its block, Sputnik Afrique operates freely under the guise of serving African audiences, and Reseau International faces no transparency requirements, no sanctions exposure, and no obligation to identify its funders or editorial controllers. For French voters heading to the polls in March 2026, and for the much larger electorate that will vote in 2027, the information environment will be shaped in part by these three outlets — and by the broader network they represent.
