Russia Exploited French Riots With Fake News Campaign, European Union Concludes

A covert Russian-linked network used fake news reports and manipulated social media content to exploit violent protests in France last month, portraying the unrest as evidence of uncontrolled immigration and a government losing its grip on the country, an internal European Union assessment concluded.

The campaign, known as "Operation Overload," circulated videos impersonating Western media organizations, including fabricated reports that migrants had raped protesters and warnings of imminent terrorist attacks. The findings were contained in a restricted EU document reviewed by Reuters.

The assessment, prepared by disinformation specialists within the EU's diplomatic service, examined online activity between Oct. 7 and 21. It found that the network sought to portray French leaders as weak and increasingly authoritarian while amplifying public anger over immigration.

The report also made an important distinction: investigators found no evidence that Russia or other foreign actors had started the protests or intensified the violence itself. Rather, the operation exploited unrest that was already taking place.

Riots broke out in several French cities in October after demonstrations over rising living costs, fuel prices and declining public services turned violent. Protesters from the Yellow Vest movement, labor unions and student organizations had taken to the streets, with some of the worst clashes occurring on Oct. 17.

The Russian operation was not the only foreign-linked activity identified during the unrest. A separate internal assessment by France's foreign ministry, also obtained by Reuters, identified what it described as "hostile narratives" from social media accounts linked to Israel and the American Make America Great Again movement.

Those posts frequently connected the violence to radical Islamism and migration, although the demonstrations themselves had been organized around economic grievances.

The French assessment found a striking difference in how widely the various narratives circulated on X, formerly Twitter, during a three-day period from Oct. 16 to 18.

The 10 most-viewed posts about the riots from pro-Russian accounts received a combined 2.8 million views. By comparison, the 10 most-viewed posts from MAGA-linked officials, media outlets and influencers attracted more than 49 million views.

Posts from Israeli officials, government accounts, media organizations and influencers also reached a substantially larger audience, with the top 10 accumulating more than 35 million views.

Combined views for the 10 most-viewed posts in each category, Oct. 16–18, 2026. Figures from an internal French foreign ministry assessment obtained by Reuters.

The figures measure views of selected posts rather than unique audiences or the overall reach of each network. They also do not establish that the accounts involved operated as part of a coordinated campaign.

Neither internal assessment has been publicly released, and Reuters said it could not independently verify all the assertions contained in the documents.

French President Emmanuel Macron had already criticized foreign leaders for repeating misleading claims about the unrest.

Operation Overload, also known as Matryoshka, has been active since at least September 2023 and has repeatedly impersonated legitimate news organizations, journalists and public figures to spread misleading information.

A 2024 investigation by Viginum, France's government agency responsible for detecting foreign online interference, documented how the operation used fabricated news reports, manipulated images and social media posts to target audiences in more than 60 countries.

The network typically distributes false content through one group of accounts before other accounts amplify it by tagging established journalists, newsrooms and fact-checking organizations. Some posts directly challenge journalists to investigate the fabricated claims, drawing attention to material that might otherwise receive little engagement.

The campaign has also relied on increasingly sophisticated impersonation techniques. Research published in 2025 by the Institute for Strategic Dialogue examined 135 pieces of content attributed to Operation Overload during the first quarter of that year. The researchers found that the network impersonated more than 80 organizations, often by misusing logos or manipulating the voices of experts.

The latest EU assessment said the network's activity during the French riots also sought to weaken European support for Ukraine by promoting claims that governments were spending resources abroad while neglecting problems at home.

Russia has previously denied French accusations of election-related disinformation. In August, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova dismissed allegations from French authorities concerning interference ahead of the country's 2027 elections.

The Russian Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters' request for comment on the latest findings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office and Israel's Foreign Ministry also did not respond.