Three Bulgarian men jailed in France for vandalizing Holocaust memorial as part of a Russian-linked hybrid warfare campaign to destabilize French society through symbolic attacks amplified by Russian social media trolls.

Over several days in late October 2025, three men from Bulgaria were prosecuted in Paris for painting red handprints on the Wall of the Righteous at the Paris Holocaust Memorial. French prosecutors regard the incident as part of a symbolic series of hybrid warfare attacks, suspected to be orchestrated or inspired by Russian efforts to destabilize France by amplifying antisemitism and societal divisions. The men were arrested and tried at the Paris court, where their actions were framed as a deliberate attempt to provoke or inflame tensions around France's troubled history with antisemitism and ethnicity. Analysts note that such symbolic events are broadcast globally to weaken Western societies' social fabric. The case occurred amid broader concerns about Russian covert operations leveraging identity politics and historical grievances to sow discord. The men reportedly received funds to carry out these acts, with law enforcement identifying connections to deeper hybrid warfare initiatives. French authorities condemned the vandalism as part of wider Russian destabilization strategies targeting democratic states.