How Russia targeted France and radicalised Emmanuel Macron

ON JANUARY 16th the French president, Emmanuel Macron, announced that he would send another 40 long-range Scalp cruise missiles to Ukraine. Later that day Russia bombed Kharkiv, in north-eastern Ukraine, claiming French mercenaries were based there and supplying a list of names that the French army says is fake. Shortly afterwards the French 193 websites set up to undermine public support for Ukraine in France (as well as in Germany and Poland), run by a Russian firm based in Crimea. Days later Sébastien Lecornu, the French defence minister, said Russian air-traffic controllers had threatened that a French aircraft patrolling over the Black Sea would be shot down.In recent months France has catalogued an intensified Russian campaign to sow division, discredit the country and test its army. Russian security services, say French sources, commissioned the stars of David stencilled on walls in Paris last October, to stir up inter-religious tensions. In March cyber-attacks briefly took down some of the French government’s websites, and hackers stole data from its jobs agency. With the added help of Russia apologists in France, Russian bot farms turbo-charged scare stories about in Paris, used a deepfake French news report to fabricate a supposed attempt on Mr Macron’s life, and spread vile false rumours about his wife, Brigitte.