At first glance, you could almost believe that this is an official army website. A photo of Emmanuel Macron with Volodymyr Zelensky, superimposed with a message: “Be among the first to defend France’s interests in Ukraine”. A little higher, a commitment, that the Army “recruits and trains 200,000 men to carry out operations in Ukraine”. Further down, the promise of a salary “from 5,000 euros”. Except that all of this is obviously…absolutely false.
This “fake government website, relayed by malicious accounts for a disinformation campaign”, in the words of the Ministry of the Armed Forces on already attributed to Russian or pro-Russian interests.
A few clicks online are enough to realize the deception. The domain name of this site – sengage-ukraine.fr -, was notably submitted by an anonymous person on March 15, 2024, the day after an interview with Emmanuel Macron on the 8 p.m. news on TF1 and France 2. A speech in which the French president assured “assuming” his statements on the potential sending of French troops to Ukraine.
Controversial remarks which caused a lot of reaction in France and in Europe, and a breach into which Russia has since sought to rush in order to seek to undermine Western support for Ukraine. Thus, on March 19, the Ministry of the Armed Forces had to deny a “mass disinformation” maneuver by Russia after the head of Moscow’s foreign intelligence had affirmed that France was preparing to send a contingent of 2,000 soldiers in Ukraine. Without forgetting the dismantling of “Portal Kombat”, a network of more than 190 websites relaying pro-Russian propaganda in Western countries.
“The mark of a Russian or pro-Russian device”
Despite the responsiveness to deactivate this new misleading site – the work of French services, according to a government source with AFP – this false website could still have achieved its objectives. In terms of communication, already, by being relayed by multiple pro-Russian X accounts (ex-Twitter), always contributing to confusing minds. This site also invited volunteers to leave their contact details, suggesting behind this disinformation operation an objective of collection and use of personal data. With a particularly targeted audience. “Immigrants have priority”, specified the site, offering to discuss with “Captain Paul, unit commander of more than 100 soldiers”.
The French organization fighting against foreign digital interference, Viginum, contributed to the investigation, the office of the minister, Sébastien Lecornu, told AFP. “The ministry’s services are mobilized alongside Viginum to shed light on this informational maneuver targeting France”, specified the cabinet, denouncing “a usurpation of an official site of the army”. The home page of this fake site thus presents similarities with the official site of the army, without the copy being very successful. The message on X from the ministry specifies that the address http://sengage.fr is the only one able to join the Army.
The Ministry of the Armed Forces did not officially provide any leads on Thursday as to the authors of the forgery. But a senior French official told AFP that it bore “the mark of a Russian or pro-Russian device, as part of the disinformation campaign according to which the French army is preparing to send men to Ukraine “fight against Russia. “Everything converges: the narrative, the method. There is a maneuver,” he added on condition of anonymity, evoking, among other recent examples, images of French convoys allegedly traveling towards the Ukrainian border broadcast recently. on social networks.
“Russia asserts itself as the most aggressive actor in the information field”
After having remained on the defensive for a long time in the face of Russian informational assaults, Paris has launched in recent weeks a muscular and methodical denunciation of the multiple attempts at destabilization targeting France, remotely guided, according to the French authorities, by Moscow to undermine the support of public opinion to the Ukrainian cause.
In an interview with Figaro this Thursday, the head of Viginum, Marc-Antoine Brillant, revealed that the organization identified nearly 230 inauthentic phenomena on social networks last year, including a dozen foreign interferences. “This is 40% more than in 2022,” he specifies, adding that “Russia is asserting itself as the most aggressive actor in the information field.”
In fact, Russian information attacks seem to be increasing against France while Paris recently concluded a bilateral security agreement with kyiv, with Moscow denouncing Paris’ “growing involvement” in the conflict. A strategy assumed by Emmanuel Macron, who continues in his desire to play strategic ambiguity against Moscow. There is no doubt then that Russian destabilization maneuvers should not weaken in the near future.