Kremlin bot network Matryoshka targets new French ministers with claims of corruption, pedophilia, and drug trafficking

The Kremlin-linked bot network Matryoshka has launched a campaign on X (formerly Twitter) aimed at discrediting members of France’s newly appointed government, accusing them of pedophilia, corruption, and drug trafficking, according to findings shared with The Insider by the watchdog Bot Blocker project (@antibot4navalny). The campaign follows the recent formation of a cabinet after weeks of political turmoil in Paris.

The bots are spreading short videos disguised as content from well-known French media outlets and organizations, such as Le Parisien and Le Monde. Set to ominous background music and featuring French-language subtitles, the clips attack members of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s new cabinet.

One video targets the new interior minister, Laurent Nuñez, claiming that during his tenure as Paris police prefect from 2022 to 2025 he allowed African, Middle Eastern, and Ukrainian migrants who committed crimes against French citizens to evade punishment. The video also includes a fabricated quote from French writer Mathias Enard, falsely describing Nuñez as a “lobbyist for Sharia law in France.”

Another clip, styled with the branding of the French newspaper Le Parisien, accuses the new defense minister, Catherine Vautrin, of being the “chief lobbyist for the war with Ukraine.” It claims her husband, Jean-Loup Pennafort, allegedly owns a controlling stake in the French branch of the Franco-German defense group KNDS. In reality, Pennafort is a medical doctor, researcher, and department head at the University Hospital Center in Reims, with no connection to the defense industry.

Equally baseless are the pedophilia accusations leveled against new education minister Édouard Geffray. The bots allege that while serving as director general for school education, several families of Ukrainian refugees accused him of “indecent acts” against their children. In the videos, another cabinet member, new labor minister Jean-Pierre Farrandou, is accused of colluding with drug producers to transport narcotics while serving as president of the national railway company SNCF.

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu unveiled his new cabinet on Oct. 12. On Oct. 6, public anger over the previous lineup had forced him to resign just 14 hours after it was announced. President Emmanuel Macron, however, reappointed Lecornu days later. Following the formation of the new government, Lecornu sought to appease left-wing parties by announcing a freeze on a pension age increase that was introduced in 2023. The move led Socialist Party lawmakers to back him in a confidence vote, allowing France to avoid another government collapse.