Coffins Marked 'French Soldiers in Ukraine' Left Near Eiffel Tower
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Facts
- Three people have been detained after they allegedly left five life-size coffins draped in French flags with the inscription 'French soldiers in Ukraine' near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday.1
- The coffins, left on the Quai Branly in Paris — which is preparing to host the 2024 Olympic Games — reportedly contained gypsum, not corpses.2
- French officials claim that the incident is connected with another from mid-May, when the Shoah Memorial was sprayed with red hands, suspecting both of being Russian interference operations.3
- The three men — a Bulgarian, a Ukrainian and a German — remain in French custody in connection with the latest incident. According to AFP, the Bulgarian man was paid €40 ($43) to drive the two others who were arrested separately at the Bercy terminal on their way to Berlin.2
- While the men's motives remain unclear, the inscription on the coffins suggests a link to discussions initiated by French Pres. Emmanuel Macron regarding stationing NATO troops inside Ukraine.1
- Last week, the defense ministries of France and Ukraine announced that French instructors would be deployed in Ukraine to train troops and carry out military repairs.4
Sources: 1Ukrainska Pravda, 2RFI, 3Le Monde.fr and 4The Kyiv Independent.
Narratives
- Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by BBC News. Data from the three suspects' phones shows that they were in contact with another man whose role in a previous suspected Russian interference operation is being probed. This is clearly Russia trying to foment agitation to discredit France's unwavering support of Ukraine.
- Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Barrons. As the motives of the three men remain unknown, it's premature to blame Moscow for France's security lapse. Instead of investigating the incident as a possible interference by a foreign power, French officials must focus on closing security loopholes.