PARIS: Three Bulgarian men are on trial in Paris this week for alleged involvement in spray-painting blood-red hands on the city’s Holocaust Memorial, an act of vandalism that French intelligence services link to a campaign by Russia to destabilize France and other Western societies.
Some 500 red hands were painted last year on a wall honoring those who helped rescue Jews during World War II and around nearby Paris neighborhoods. The graffiti was initially viewed in the context of the war in Gaza, which has led to a rise in antisemitic incidents and tensions around Europe.
But French intelligence services say the red hands were part of a strategy by Russia to use paid proxies to divide public opinion, stoke social tensions and spread false information, according to court documents. Governments across Europe have accused Russia in recent years of a campaign of sabotage that has included paying people to commit acts of vandalism, arson and bombing attempts.
Two defendants showed contrition
Four Bulgarians are charged in the Holocaust Memorial case, but only three are in custody and were present for this week’s trial. The alleged ringleader, Mircho Angelov, is at large.
The first to testify, Georgi Filipov, said he painted the red hands in exchange for 1,000 euros to help pay child support for his 9-year-old son. He said he was paid by Angelov, and did not address accusations of Russian involvement.
“I acknowledge having participated in these acts. I formally apologize to the victims, andI apologize for the damage. I also apologize to the French authorities,” he told the court through translators.
Filipov said he was a former neo-Nazi and that he might have been recruited because his social media feeds showed him with neo-Nazi tattoos and a t-shirt praising Hitler. He described the tattoos as a “bad choice from my past.”
Kiril Milushev testified that he filmed the graffiti at Angelov’s instruction in exchange for 500 euros. “I regret having participated in this act,” he told the court.
Another defendant remained defiant
The third defendant, Nikolay Ivanov, was questioned about his role in four incidents of alleged Russian interference. Born in the city of Luhansk in now-Russian occupied eastern Ukraine, Ivanov denied any pro-Russian connections or sentiments, and any responsibility for the red-hands graffiti.
In the Paris case, he is accused of recruiting the others and buying them plane and bus tickets for the other defendants to travel from the Bulgarian capital Sofia to Brussels and then Paris, and paying for their Paris hotel. He said he did so at Angelov’s request, and had only “rendered a service to a friend.”
Prosecutors and plaintiffs lament the impact
Prosecutor Camille Poch said the Holocaust Memorial was chosen as a target as a ‘’means to create chaos.” She told the court Thursday that the case wasn’t just about graffiti, but about the broader repercussions of Russian interference, which she said is ‘’multiplying.”
Plaintiffs include the Paris Holocaust Memorial and the League against Racism and Antisemitism. Testifying Thursday, memorial director Jacques Fredj decried the defacing of ‘’a site where we teach tolerance, and we fight against all kinds of discrimination.” The memorial was targeted again this year.
The suspects face charges including criminal conspiracy or aggravated degradation of property based on race, ethnicity or religion. The prosecutor is seeking four-year prison terms for Ivanov and Angelov, and two years for Filipov and Milushev.
It was one of several strange incidents
The red hands graffiti was among several incidents over the past two years in France that bear hallmarks of destabilization campaigns, and the first to come to trial. Among others:
In October 2023, soon after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, stencils of blue Stars of David appeared on Paris buildings. French authorities accused Russian security services of stirring up controversy around the stars. Two Moldovans were detained and deported in the case.
In June 2024, five coffins appeared at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with references to Ukraine ahead of a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Filipov, the defendant in the red hands case, said he was initially recruited to transport the coffins but testified that he backed out when he was told to put them beneath the famous Paris landmark. Three other men, born in Bulgaria, Germany and Ukraine, are suspected in the case, and a warrant has been issued for their arrest, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Unusual spray-painted images and messages with references to Ukraine appeared on the streets of Paris a few days later, as Zelensky met with then-US President Joe Biden in the French capital. Three Moldovans are in custody pending further investigation.
And last month, severed pigs’ heads were found near nine Paris-area mosques, five of which had Macron’s name written on them. An investigation is under way.