Leaked files detail a Russian plan to stage anti-Muslim and antisemitic provocations in Paris and pin them on Ukrainians
Documents obtained by Delfi Estonia and shared with the OCCRP investigative network detail Russian hybrid-warfare operations planned for 2025-2026, including planting pig heads near Paris mosques, vandalizing a Holocaust museum, and defacing a monument to Charles de Gaulle while framing "Ukrainian nationalists." Publicized by Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation, the files attribute the operations to the sanctioned Social Design Agency, said to be overseen by officials in the Russian presidential administration, and include a disinformation campaign over real estate allegedly owned by Volodymyr Zelensky. The Center called the network evidence of a systematic, long-term hybrid threat to Europe.
Investigators have published documents detailing planned Russian hybrid operations across Europe. The files were obtained by journalists at Delfi Estonia and shared with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), and were publicized by the Center for Countering Disinformation under Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, which reported the findings on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.
The leaked planning for 2025-2026 includes staging provocations designed to inflame social tensions: planting pig heads near mosques in Paris, vandalizing a Holocaust museum, and defacing a monument to Charles de Gaulle while framing so-called "Ukrainian nationalists." The documents also describe a disinformation project spreading false claims about "elite real estate" allegedly owned by Volodymyr Zelensky, which the operators internally labeled a "successful campaign."
According to the leak, Moscow runs the operations through the sanctioned Social Design Agency, whose activities are reportedly overseen directly by officials in the Russian presidential administration. The Center for Countering Disinformation said the material demonstrates the scale and systematic nature of Russia's covert influence network in Europe, arguing that the Kremlin's recruitment of agents abroad to run information operations creates a long-term hybrid threat that requires stronger oversight of Russia-linked structures across the continent.
The disclosure follows earlier warnings from Polish intelligence services that Russia is expanding hybrid operations in EU countries by drawing in radicalized youth, criminal groups and foreign nationals.