The French Ministry of the Armed Forces denounced, Thursday March 28, on a fake website using its official logo and inviting 200,000 French people to “get involved in Ukraine” for a remuneration of 5,000 euros. “This site is a fake government site, relayed on social networks by malicious accounts, for a disinformation campaign”communicates the ministry.
The site in question, inaccessible at the end of the morning, suggested that volunteers leave their contact details. “Immigrants have priority”he specified in particular, offering to discuss with “Captain Paul, unit commander”.
The French organization fighting against foreign digital interference, Viginum, contributed to the investigation, the office of the minister, Sébastien Lecornu, communicated to Agence France-Presse (AFP). “The ministry’s services are mobilized alongside Viginum to shed light on this informational maneuver targeting France”specified the cabinet, denouncing “a usurpation of an official Army site”.
“Everything converges: the narrative, the method. There is a maneuver »
According to a government source contacted by AFP, the site was deactivated by French services. The message on X from the ministry specifies that the address http://sengage.fr is the only one able to join the army. The Ministry of the Armed Forces did not officially provide any leads on Thursday as to the authors of the forgery.
But a senior French official explained to AFP that he was wearing “the mark of a Russian or pro-Russian device, as part of the disinformation campaign according to which the French army is preparing to send men to Ukraine” fight against Russia. “Everything converges: the narrative, the method. There is a maneuver »he added on condition of anonymity, citing, among other recent examples, images of French convoys allegedly heading towards the Ukrainian border recently broadcast on social networks.
After having remained on the defensive for a long time in the face of Russian informational assaults, Paris has launched in recent weeks a methodical denunciation of the multiple destabilization attempts targeting France, remotely guided, according to the French authorities, by Moscow to undermine the support of public opinion to the Ukrainian cause.