French Authorities Expose Russia-Linked Disinformation Campaign

On June 2, 2026, French authorities said a coordinated campaign tied to Russian-linked Storm-1516 sought to spread false claims linking President Emmanuel Macron to Jeffrey Epstein via a fabricated France Soir article. Viginum detected the operation and reported an AI-generated video on X amassed about 700,000 views; authorities said Storm-1516 has run at least 77 campaigns since late 2023.