Kremlin influence fears hijack France’s presidential race

London: When French authorities ordered Xenia Fedorova to leave the country three weeks ago, the Russian television host gained swift support from some senior figures on the political right.

Fedorova, an ardent supporter of Russian President Vladimir Putin during years of broadcasts from Paris, railed against the expulsion and sought to overturn the decision in court.

Her defenders included Philippe de Villiers, a former cabinet minister and presidential candidate, who declared the move an illegal act by a paranoid government.

“We are witnessing the radicalisation of a cornered regime that can no longer tolerate dissenting voices,” de Villiers said.

“As it weakens, it develops a paranoia toward any form of criticism. This is the shift to authoritarianism and the climate of state suspicion.”

Now the nation’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has denounced her as a threat to France and linked her case to a pattern of Russian interference and sabotage in Europe.

“This professional in subversion, trained in Russia, carried out destabilisation operations directed by the Kremlin,” Barrot declared on Monday (Paris time).

“Her case illustrates the threat of interference we are confronted with. The enemies of democracy are observing us. They scrutinise our debates, exploit our anger and our fears.”

That makes her case a key test of government action against Russian influence. Kremlin agents have been found guilty of sabotage in the United Kingdom , France and Poland. Concerns grew last week when a drone carrying explosives was discovered near a Ukrainian cargo plane at an airport in Leipzig, in Germany’s east.

This means the attention on Russian influence is stronger than ever, especially after The Wall Street Journal reported on August 6 that US intelligence officials believed Putin might try to test NATO with a “limited incursion” into Western territory.

For her supporters, however, Fedorova is merely a journalist with strong opinions.

Said to have been born Ksenia Borchik in the Russian city of Kazan in 1980, Fedorova emerged with a new name as a producer for the Russia Today network in France in the early 2000s.

She found a home at the media networks owned by right-wing billionaire Vincent Bolloré when France and other countries shut down Russia Today (also called RT) after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

French President Emmanuel Macron dismissed her as a propagandist, yet she continued her rise on the right-wing channel CNews, likened by some to Fox News because of its conservative bent. Among his critics, Bolloré is sometimes described as a French Rupert Murdoch.