The Paris Olympics will take place without the Russian flag. No Russian (or Belarusian) sportsperson can display their country's flag; they can compete, but “neutral”.
And the Russians are trying to disrupt the next edition of the biggest sporting event on the planet.
According to a report by the Microsoft Threat Analysis Center (MTAC), there are Russian efforts to try to influence the perception of the event.
There are two priorities in this scheme: to blacken the reputation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and to spread fear of an attack in Paris during the Olympic Games, trying to get many fans to give up going.
The first obvious sign came a year ago, when the Storm-1679 group launched a feature film called Olympics Has Fallen on Telegram and spread it online.
The basis exists: the thriller Olympus Has Fallen. But then a fake audio generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI) was used, impersonating actor Tom Cruise to imply his participation; and the film questioned the IOC's leadership.
There were special effects, a vast marketing campaign, fake support from Western media and celebrities.
The same group of hackers spread a video, supposedly from the Euronews channel, in which it was announced that Parisians were buying property insurance in anticipation of the likelihood of terrorist attacks during the events.
Another video, also fake, pretended to be from France24 and indicated that 24% of tickets for the Olympic Games had already been returned due to fears of terrorism.
Fake video press releases posing as the American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the French Directorate-General for Internal Security (DGSI) were also shared, warning potential participants to stay away from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Again because of the risk of a terrorist attack.
Even the war in Gaza got in on the act. Storm-1679 published images allegedly showing graffiti in Paris threatening Israeli citizens attending the event with violence.
Articles have also been published on Reliable Recent News and 15 other fake French-language websites to increase fear of violence - and to criticize the work of Emmanuel Macron's government.
The Olympic Games start next month, on July 26th. MTAC predicts an intensification of Russian malicious activity centered on the Olympic Games. And the illusions could create real withdrawals, real fears and protests in the streets.
