France, Oct. 30 -- Three Bulgarian men are on trial in Paris this week for alleged involvement in spray-painting blood-red hands on the city's Holocaust Memorial - an act of vandalism that French intelligence services link to a destabilisation campaign by Russia.

Some 500 red hands were painted last year on a stone monument honoring those who saved Jews in France during World War II. The graffiti was initially viewed in the context of the war in Gaza, which has led to a rise in antisemitic incidents and tensions around Europe.

But French intelligence services claim the red hands are part of a long-term strategy by Russia to use paid proxies to divide public opinion, stoke social tensions and spread false information, according to court ...