Russian arrested over alleged plot to ‘destabilise’ Paris Olympics

Recent months have seen a number of incidents that have raised suspicion of an outside attempt to exploit and stoke divisions within France, particularly over the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.

In June, five coffins draped in a French flag and bearing the inscription “French soldiers of Ukraine” were left near the Eiffel Tower.

Three men – a Bulgarian, a Ukrainian, and a German – were later apprehended and told police they had been paid to deposit the coffins.

French intelligence officials said they believed Russia was behind the incident.

The month before, red hands were painted on the main Holocaust memorial in Paris. Police said the perpetrators were believed to have fled abroad.

And in the weeks after the 7 October Hamas attack and the beginnings of Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza, around 250 graffiti stencils of the Stars of David – the main symbol depicted on the Israeli flag – appeared on several walls around Paris.

A Moldovan couple were later arrested, and French officials said the pair were thought to have been paid by Russian intelligence.