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How a pro-Kremlin ad campaign used the Israel-Hamas conflict to spread propaganda in France and Germany


This Dispatch examines how a pro-Kremlin ad campaign used the Hamas-Israel conflict to spread disinformation narratives about Ukraine in France and Germany.

The ads echoed common pro-Kremlin disinformation, anti-American sentiment, and existing far-right narratives about the threats of immigration and economic decline in France and Germany, with the seeming intent to undermine the provision of military support and humanitarian aid for Ukraine and to seed fear and discord in the target countries. For example, there was a high volume of content focused on French politics during the autumn of 2023 (shown in figure 3), during which time President Macron was attempting to pass a controversial immigration bill supported by far-right actors like Marine Le Pen. While mostof the 192 pro-Kremlin ads analysed used cartoons as illustrations, those criticising the provision of aid for Ukraine also made use of impersonation and shared falsified screenshots of social media posts by well-known personas in France and Germany, such as MereymUzerli, a German-Turkish actress (Image 5).

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