{"id":985,"date":"2025-12-05T18:06:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:06:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/?p=985"},"modified":"2025-12-05T18:06:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T18:06:48","slug":"france-arrests-3-for-allegedlyspying-for-russia-spreadingpro-kremlin-war-propaganda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/2025\/12\/05\/france-arrests-3-for-allegedlyspying-for-russia-spreadingpro-kremlin-war-propaganda\/politics\/","title":{"rendered":"France arrests 3 for allegedlyspying for Russia, spreadingpro-Kremlin war propaganda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"864\" height=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/france-arrests-3-for-allegedly-spying-for-russia-spreading-pro-kremlin-war-propaganda-1764145918779.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-986\" srcset=\"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/france-arrests-3-for-allegedly-spying-for-russia-spreading-pro-kremlin-war-propaganda-1764145918779.jpg 864w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/france-arrests-3-for-allegedly-spying-for-russia-spreading-pro-kremlin-war-propaganda-1764145918779-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/france-arrests-3-for-allegedly-spying-for-russia-spreading-pro-kremlin-war-propaganda-1764145918779-768x432.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>French authorities have arrested three people suspected of spying for Russia and promoting pro-Kremlin war propaganda in Paris, prosecutors have said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The arrests are part of an investigation into SOS Donbass, a French-Russian organisation that purports to be a humanitarian group assisting civilians in eastern Ukraine, but is suspected by intelligence services of acting as a relay for Russian influence operations, France 24 reported on November 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the detainees, a 40-year-old Russian national, was identified through surveillance footage in September after allegedly posting pro-Russian propaganda posters on the Arc de Triomphe, Paris\u2019 most iconic monument.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prosecutors claim that he reported his actions to the association&#8217;s leader over the phone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The organisation\u2019s head, a 40-year-old woman born in Russia, had been under close watch by France\u2019s domestic intelligence agency, the DGSI, since early 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Investigators believe she attempted to obtain economic information from French business executives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;The DGSI flagged &#8220;actions likely to harm the fundamental interests of the nation,&#8221; prompting the appointment of an investigating magistrate in March to investigate suspected offenses, including &#8220;collusion with a foreign power,&#8221; which carries a potential 10-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A third suspect, a 63-year-old man from Seine-Saint-Denis, was also taken into custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A fourth individual, aged 58, avoided pre-trial detention but was placed under strict judicial supervision and must report to the police weekly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>French officials have repeatedly warned that Russian intelligence services are expanding covert operations on European soil, ranging from cyberattacks and online propaganda to in-person recruitment and targeted influence efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The investigation into SOS Donbass appears to align with this broader pattern, as authorities examine whether humanitarian cover is being used to legitimize pro-Kremlin messaging or collect sensitive information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The suspects remain under investigation as prosecutors and intelligence services continue to analyse potential links to Russian state structures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>French authorities have arrested three people suspected of spying for Russia and promoting pro-Kremlin war propaganda in Paris, prosecutors have said. The arrests are part [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=985"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/985\/revisions\/987"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedawnrwanda.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}