Russia’s campaign against Jewish targets in Europe

The activities of Iranian agents in Europe and Australia, often using third parties, are well known. These plots were mainly directed at Iranian dissidents and journalists who were living in the UK, and also synagogues, which are the most obvious Jewish symbols in the diaspora.

What is less well-known – albeit in the Jewish context – has been the Russian impetus to cause discord and division. The Russians, too, have been involved in attacks on Jewish sites in Europe but their assaults are profoundly different in their targets and desired outcome.

While the Iranians have targeted synagogues in London, Melbourne and Belgium, and employed crime gangs in Sweden, to create anxiety and terror among the local populations, the Russian strategy has focussed on trying to undermine European loyalty to Ukraine. It is also designed to rupture social cohesion more broadly in Europe by sowing discord between Jews and Muslims.

Last year, painted red hands appeared in neighbourhoods of Paris. The Wall of the Righteous near the Holocaust Memorial was similarly sprayed. The Wall recalls 3,900 French citizens who risked their lives to save Jews during the Shoah. Within hours, images of the vandalised memorial went viral.

They were promoted by the Russian disinformation ecosystem – aided and abetted by social media devotees. The disinformation involved establishing fake online groups that purport to be far-Right or Muslim organisations. Fake narratives are propagated through messaging apps such as Telegram to promote distrust and suspicion between Jews and Muslims and to undermine social cohesion in general.