After the stars of David and red hands came coffins. Now, a series of new symbols, echoing the coffins left in front of the Eiffel Tower on the weekend of June 1, have been spray-penciled on the walls of several buildings in Paris’s lavish 7th arrondissement, as revealed by BFM-TV, in what is most likely a new stage in the series of Russian destabilization operations targeting France. The graffiti, discovered on June 7, also depicts coffins, bearing the same words as the coffins dropped at the Eiffel Tower: “French soldiers in Ukraine.”
Three people, of Bulgarian, German and Ukrainian nationality, were arrested on Saturday, June 1, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, and are awaiting deportation. Investigators were able to establish that the three men were in contact with a member of the group suspected of painting red hands on the Shoah Memorial’s Wall of the Righteous last month, leaving little doubt of a link between the two cases.
The link between the people who deposited the coffins and those who painted the inscriptions that appeared on the morning of June 7 is no longer in any doubt. Le Monde, like other media in France, was contacted earlier in the week by an enigmatic self-described “Ukrainian art group,” named Mriya, which means “peace” in Ukrainian, claiming responsibility for the action.
A certain Marina, introducing herself as a Ukrainian living “in a European city,” presented the act as a “call for peace” and against the continuation of a war “which only benefits the oligarchs.” In support of her claims, she attached photos and videos showing the coffins before they were installed and said that they had been purchased for €2,000 in Bulgaria, “the cheapest offer in Europe.”
The operation, she said, was funded and carried out by “people united by similar convictions,” with no links to Russia. Responding to questions only by sending voice notes in Russian, and unwilling to reveal her identity, Marina denied any connection with the red hands or Stars of David graffiti.
Suspicious Facebook page
On Friday morning, the same group sent Le Monde a series of videos showing their work: Graffiti spread across at least four different points in the capital’s 7th arrondissement, three of which could be geolocated. The aim of this new “artistic performance,” they said, was to protest against the detention of the three men “illegally” arrested on June 1, and against the latest announcements, made by French President Emmanuel Macron, of increased support for the Ukrainian army.
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