“This is …” – Palace reveals what Macron hides under the table

France even sees itself as the victim of a Russian disinformation campaign. After social media have been flooded with video -recordings, on which Macron is said to have hidden an assumed cocaine bag in Kiev on the train journey to Kiev, said the Élysée Palace on X (formerly Twitter): “This is a handkerchief.”

Classic Russian script
“When European unity disrupts, the disinformation goes so far to publish a simple handkerchief as a medicine. This false information is spread by the inner and outer enemies of France,” the post said in a clear allusion to Russia and its supporters. For years, Russia has been trying to undermine the credibility of Ukrainian president Wolodyymyr Senskyj by painting it as addicted to cocaine.

Drowned photos, wild rumors
Macron traveled to Ukraine to Ukraine on Friday evening with the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir. The rumor was then spread online that Macron had taken a bag with cola from the table in his allocation section – as a journalist for an image date – to hide it. Merz is said to have hid a spoon to consume cocaine.

FPö-Vilimsky also went on the glue
The FPö delegation manager in the European Parliament, Harald Vilimsky, also shared the video with the comment “Exciting …” and a Nachdenk-Emoji on X. The allegations were also recorded and distributed by the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Sacharova.

The shared videos were of low quality. Recordings with a high resolution show that the object at Merz is a movable stick for a drink or a spit for snacks, not a spoon.

“Caution of manipulation,” warned the Élysée Palace on the platform X. The rumor was distributed, among other things, on a website that is very similar to the presentation of a page identified by France as part of the Russian propaganda network.