Info Verification

RFI targeted by a false report fabricated by Russian propaganda

This Wednesday, March 27 in the afternoon, a false report impersonating Radio France Internationale appeared online. This video suggests, without any evidence, that a Ukrainian tuberculosis epidemic would threaten France due to the admission of Ukrainian soldiers to the country's hospitals. The publication of this false information on different broadcast channels shows that RFI is the target of a coordinated information attack.

Please note, this video was not produced by the Radio France Internationale editorial team © Screenshots/ RFI Montage

By: Olivier Fourt Follow | Grégory Genevrier Follow

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Spotted by the Russian service and the international service of RFI, this video has been circulating online since Wednesday March 27. The logo at the top right of the image, the graphic charter, the editing and even the credits suggest, wrongly, that it was produced by the RFI editorial team. In reality, this is a false report; RFI is not the origin of this content.

The RFI logo and graphic charter were fraudulently copied to deceive Internet users. © Screenshots/RFI montage

This fraudulent production appears to appear for the first time online on the messaging application Telegram at 2:47 p.m. Paris time (1:47 p.m. GMT). The Russian-speaking account which published it is called “ 

Russia

News”, it has some 4,282 subscribers.

The video's narrative claims, without proof, that a " 

Ukrainian tuberculosis epidemic threatens

France

due to the admission of Ukrainian soldiers for treatment

 ."

The accompanying commentary ends: “ 

Bed bugs and tuberculosis. If only I could go to the Olympic Games in France…

 ”

It was on this account that the false report first appeared online. © Screenshot/ RFI montage

Ten minutes later, new Russian-speaking Telegram channels shared this false report attributed to RFI. One of them is followed by more than 118,000 people. Both have been identified as important vectors of pro-Russian propaganda since the start of the invasion of

Ukraine

.

The same commentary in Russian always accompanies this video. © Screenshots/RFI montage

The infox, until now only present on Telegram, is then relayed on VKontakte, the equivalent of Facebook in Russia, then on X (formerly Twitter) and Russian websites. Each time, almost word for word the same commentary in Russian accompanies the video. 

The infox arrives on X, formerly Twitter, later in the evening of Wednesday March 27. © Screenshots/RFI montage

This distribution pattern, the anti-Ukrainian narrative and the media impersonation technique leaves little doubt about the origin of this informational attack. This modus operandi has already targeted numerous French but also international media. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of RFI-marked content, you can contact the Info Verif cell on WhatsApp at +33 6 89 07 61 09.

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