Édouard Philippe deepfake video — Sep 2026

Russian disinformation campaigns are actively targeting potential contenders for France’s 2027 presidential election through the use of deepfakes, fabricated news reports, and false claims regarding health and corruption. According to an analysis by Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications, France has become the second-most targeted country for foreign information manipulation, with 107 major attacks recorded in 2025.

What happened

The coordinated interference efforts involve multiple Russian-linked networks, including Storm-1516 and Matryoshka, aiming to discredit candidates such as former Prime Ministers Édouard Philippe and Gabriel Attal, as well as European Parliament member Raphaël Glucksmann. Operations have employed a variety of deceptive tactics:

• Deepfakes and Fabricated Media: Storm-1516 targeted Philippe with false health claims, while Matryoshka circulated fake videos styled to resemble legitimate French news outlets like Le Figaro and Libération to link Attal to fabricated political scandals.
• Identity Theft and Forgery: The campaigns utilized stolen identities of French journalists and forged documents to bolster false narratives.
• Fake News Ecosystems: Networks established websites designed to mimic credible outlets, such as the French site Blast, to disseminate misinformation. Additionally, the Portal Kombat operation utilizes a network of Pravda-branded websites to amplify narratives suggesting the 2027 election will be rigged.
• Distribution Channels: Content is primarily distributed through anonymous websites (49.8%) and Telegram channels (47.4%), allowing the perpetrators to distance themselves from direct attribution.

Beyond attacking individual reputations, the campaigns target French institutions like Viginum, the agency responsible for countering foreign interference, framing them as instruments of censorship to erode public confidence in the electoral process. In response, French authorities have opened an investigation into the suspected interference, and Gabriel Attal has filed a formal legal complaint regarding the campaign.