How Russian propaganda leverages Philippot’s post

On June 4, the Russian propaganda outlet RIA Novosti published an article titled “Extermination. A video from Dnipro struck a French politician.”

The article quotes the comments by Florian Philippot, leader of the French far-right and Eurosceptic Patriots party, on the social network X (Twitter). In his post, he described a video of the army recruitment center’s officers detaining a man on the street in Dnipro.

“Ukraine: terrible video of a street kidnapping for force mobilization in Dnipro. (…) The Euro-Atlantic determination to continue this war by arming and financing Ukraine (supported by the entire French political class except our list, which has been acting for peace since the beginning) will lead to the complete sacrifice of the Ukrainian people! Peace now! Stop sending arms and money to Ukraine!” Philippot wrote.

According to an analysis of the RIA Novosti article, Filippot did indeed spread manipulation and the Russian narrative about forced mobilization in Ukraine.

Other Russian news sites actively disseminated the RIA Novosti article, while Telegram and VKontakte served as public platforms. A video of a man being detained in Dnipro by representatives of the local army recruitment center was shared on social media.

However, in this case, the video was taken out of context and used as part of Russian propaganda to undermine the mobilization in Ukraine, which is being conducted because of the Russian war of aggression. The incident shown does not give a complete picture of the situation.

Florian Philippot is the leader of the French ultranationalist Patriots party, known for its pro-Russian views. Before starting his own project, Philippot used to be part of the far-right National Rally (formerly National Front) and Marine Le Pen’s campaign manager.

Philippot has previously made statements on social media and in interviews, criticizing the EU and NATO’s policies of support for Ukraine. Philippot’s statements are often aimed at supporting Russian narratives. He does not condemn Russia’s war of aggression and does not mention that this mobilization is an outcome of Putin’s full-scale invasion.

The French politician’s statements about the forced mobilization and anihilation of the Ukrainian people are exaggerations and manipulations of facts. At the same time, he calls for halting the supply of weapons to Ukraine, which are used to prevent the anihilation of Ukrainian people by Russian invading troops.

Support for Ukraine by the Western allies is aimed at protecting its territorial integrity from Russian invasion and continuous assaults, not at destroying its population. Army recruitment measures may include coercive elements, but this does not indicate the violent destruction of the people. Such statements are aimed at causing fear and negative emotions in the audience.

Therefore, Florian Filippot’s post on social network X is an element of pro-Russian influence and manipulation of public opinion to discredit the Ukrainian government and the support of Ukraine by the EU and NATO countries.