French institutions discovered last week a disinformation campaign targeting Raphaël Glucksmann – a left-wing Member of the European Parliament and an active Kremlin critic, who is believed to be running for the French presidency next year, a security source told the AFP news agency on Tuesday.
This campaign was traced back to the propaganda network “Storm-1516”, which is linked to Russian intelligence, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“Russian security services have launched their operations to destabilize the 2027 election campaign,” Glucksmann wrote on social media Monday evening.
According to him, a fabricated story about a conspiracy allegedly aimed at boosting his candidacy appeared on a website mimicking the legitimate news portal “Blast”, and the report included, among other things, forged documents, AI-generated voices, and a “completely fake video”.
“The aim is to widely spread complete lies to defame individuals whom the Russian regime considers hostile,” noted Glucksmann, who has repeatedly spoken out against Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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French far-right figures see the best chance yet to win next year’s elections, with Marine Le Pen seeking the presidency for the fourth time despite a conviction for fraud.
“Storm-1516” also targeted presidential candidate Édouard Philippe last month – a centrist former prime minister believed to be the strongest contender against the far-right. According to the security source, social media posts spreading false information about his health were circulated.
The group is also suspected of being involved in a February attempt to spread false claims linking President Emmanuel Macron to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
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