Coffins decorated with French flags trigger investigation into Russian interference

The five coffins were covered with French flags

Three people were questioned by an investigating judge on Monday after five coffins draped in the French flag and bearing the inscription “French soldiers of Ukraine” were left near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday, June 1.

Authorities are investigating whether the incident was the result of Russian interference.

The French secret service DGSE writes in a memo that The Worldindicated that the operation was coordinated by the Russian secret service FSB

The Paris public prosecutor’s office called for the three men to be charged with “intentional violence”. They were named as witnesses and released pending further investigations.

Although the motive for the incident is unclear, it came after President Macron announced that he would do not exclude The deployment of French troops to Ukraine has been hinted at and it has been suggested that French military trainers may soon be sent there. Russia has criticised this move.

On Saturday, surveillance footage showed a white van stopping near the Eiffel Tower and two men pulling out five large coffins filled with bags of plaster.

The driver, a Bulgarian national, said he had been paid to transport the other two men and had arrived in Paris the day before. The other two men, a Ukrainian and a German national, were arrested later on Saturday as they waited for a bus to Berlin. They said they had been paid 400 euros to deliver the coffins.

Sources told FranceInfo that police are investigating links between one of the men and a suspect who painted red hands on the Holocaust memorial in Paris in May, another suspected case of foreign interference.