France links conversation in Russian to Star of David graffiti

French prosecutors are investigating whether a foreign intermediary was behind the painting of more than 200 blue Stars of David on buildings in and around Paris last month, amid a wave of anti-Semitic acts in Europe since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.

Investigators suspect that a man and a woman caught on surveillance footage showing some of the graffiti had communicated in Russian with a person who offered them money to spray-paint the stars on buildings, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said. , in a statement on Tuesday.

The discovery of the stars – more than 60 were found in Paris’ 14th arrondissement on the morning of October 31, while others appeared in two suburbs of the capital – shocked many in France, where anti-Semitism has long been a problem. French Jews have also been the target of terrorist attacks in recent years.

The man and woman stenciled the stars in one go and were accompanied by a third person who took photographs of the graffiti, Ms Beccuau said, adding that the man and woman then left France on October 31.

Ms Beccuau did not name the two suspects but said investigators had linked them to another couple, a 33-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman from Moldova, who were arrested in Paris on October 27 for painting. a blue Star of David on a building. The Moldovan pair told investigators they had acted on orders from a third party in exchange for payment “as evidenced by a conversation in Russian on their phone,” Ms. Beccuau said. Phone records led investigators to believe both couples were “in contact with the same third party,” Ms. Beccuau added.

“It cannot therefore be excluded that the marking of the blue Stars of David in the Paris region was carried out at the express request of someone living abroad,” she said.

Ms. Beccuau noted that the stars were stenciled on random buildings and did not appear to be specifically aimed at any one location. She said further investigation was needed to determine the “anti-Semitic intent” of the graffiti in light of the “geopolitical context.”

The prosecutor’s statement did not identify the Russian-speaking intermediary. French government spokesman Olivier Véran declined on Wednesday to comment on possible Russian involvement, citing the ongoing investigation.

But at least one other official has suggested that the graffiti could have been a way to sow discord in French society, where tensions are high after Hamas’s deadly Oct. 7 attack and Israel’s retaliation against the group in Gaza. France has reported more than 1,100 anti-Semitic acts since October 7. In response, French parliamentary leaders on Sunday called for a march in Paris against anti-Semitism.

Laurent Nuñez, Prefect of the Paris Police, told the news channel BFMTV last week that the graffiti case was “atypical” and that it stood out from other anti-Semitic acts in recent weeks because it was more widespread and appeared “coordinated.” Mr. Nuñez declined to comment directly on possible Russian involvement, but suggested that interference from a foreign player seeking to undermine French social cohesion is possible.

“Do they want to divide us even more, try to destroy national unity even more?” he said. “That is not completely ruled out.”

Antibot4navalnythe username of a leader of anonymous volunteers monitoring pro-Russian social media campaigns, said that pro-Kremlin bots and online trolls had used images of the stars painted in Paris to stoke tensions in Europe, nevertheless noting that the images did not indicate that Moscow-supporting entities were behind the graffiti.

“There is a campaign to scare Europeans and Ukrainians with the bitter cold, problems with pensions and inflation,” Antibot4navalny said in response to written questions on the messaging app Telegram. “Stars of David are also part of it.”

Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting from Tbilisi, Georgia.