The fact that Russia is very skilled in hybrid conflicts is now a known matter, just go back a few years and analyze how Moscow annexed Crimea. There are also many alleged interference in the US presidential elections, in the elections in France, Germany and Italy. Yesterday Sputnik Italy reported an investigation underway by the French security forces on alleged conditioning, via social networks, of Russia on the protests of the yellow vests in France.
The French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said that the General Secretariat for Defense and National Security (SGDSN) is investigating Russia's alleged involvement in the protests of the yellow vests.
“I've heard these rumors… Let's take a look at the results of this investigation. I will not judge anything until the facts are established, ”Le Drian said.
He said that, at present, there are issues on which France and Russia have conflicting positions, but there are also issues on which their positions are similar and fields in which the two countries collaborate.
Earlier, the British newspaper The Times reported that hundreds of Twitter accounts, potentially linked to Russia, were used to share more than 1500 messages a day to "increase the scale of street protests" in France. Such messages are a vehicle for disinformation, the publication notes, as they have released images of demonstrators injured in other protests, to amplify the perception of violence used by French police. The large-scale yellow vest protests against rising gasoline prices began in France on November 17 and every weekend there are new tensions with the involvement of various social partners.
Russia, however, has repeatedly denied the accusations of interfering, or attempting to influence, the internal affairs of other states.
