PARIS (AP) — Four Bulgarians were sentenced to between two and four years in prison for their involvement in spray-painting blood-red hands on Paris' Holocaust Memorial in an act of vandalism that French intelligence services linked to a destabilization campaign by Russia.
A Paris court handed down two-year sentences to Georgi Filipov and Kiril Milushev, who acknowledged their role in the graffiti painting, and four years to Nikolay Ivanov, accused of recruiting them. The alleged ringleader, Mircho Angelov, is at large and received three years in prison.
Some 500 red hands were painted last year on a wall honoring those who helped rescue Jews during World War II, and around nearby Paris neighborhoods. The graffiti was initially viewed in the context of the war in Gaza, which has led to a rise in antisemitic incidents and tensions across Europe.
But French intelligence services say the red hands were part of a strategy by Russia to use paid proxies to divide public opinion, stoke social tensions and spread false information, according to court documents. Governments across Europe have accused Russia in recent years of a campaign of sabotage that has included paying people to commit vandalism, arson and bombing attempts.
The court stated that “foreign interference aimed at dividing the French society but that does not in any manner alleviate individual responsibility.” It noted the seriousness of the crime on a site targeted for its significance.
Plaintiffs included the Paris Holocaust Memorial and the League Against Racism and Antisemitism.
During the trial, both Filipov and Milushev expressed regrets, explaining they were paid by Angelov to paint the red hands and film the graffiti.
Ivanow, the third defendant, denied responsibility for the graffiti. He said he paid plane and bus tickets and a Paris hotel for the others at Angelov's request and denied any pro-Russian connections or sentiments.
The red hands graffiti was among several incidents over the past two years in France linked to destabilization campaigns, and the first to come to trial. Among others:
— In October 2023, soon after the start of the Israel-Hamas war, stencils of blue Stars of David appeared on Paris buildings. French authorities accused Russian security services of stirring up controversy around the stars. Two Moldovans were detained and deported in the case.
— In June 2024, five coffins appeared at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with references to Ukraine ahead of a visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Three men, born in Bulgaria, Germany and Ukraine, were suspected and a warrant has been issued for their arrest, according to the prosecutor’s office.
Unusual spray-painted images and messages with references to Ukraine appeared on the streets of Paris a few days later, as Zelenskyy met with then-U.S. President Joe Biden in the French capital. Three Moldovans were detained.
Last month, severed pigs’ heads were found near nine Paris-area mosques, five of which had Macron’s name written on them. An investigation is underway.
FILE - Independent centrist presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron stands at the "Mur des Justes" at the Shoah Museum, a wall on which 2,693 names of people who protected or saved Jews during World War II are engraved in Paris, April 30, 2017. (Philippe Wojazer/Pool Photo via AP, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media that the U.S. Coast Guard had boarded the Motor Tanker Veronica early Thursday. She said the ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of President Donald Trump’s "established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean.”
U.S. Southern Command said Marines and sailors launched from the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to take part in the operation alongside a Coast Guard tactical team, which Noem said conducted the boarding as in previous raids. The military said the ship was seized “without incident.”
Noem posted a brief video that appeared to show part of the ship’s capture. The black-and-white footage showed helicopters hovering over the deck of a merchant vessel while armed troops dropped down on the deck by rope.
The Veronica is the sixth sanctioned tanker seized by U.S. forces as part of the effort by Trump’s administration to control the production, refining and global distribution of Venezuela’s oil products and the fourth since the U.S. ouster of Venezuela President Nicolás Maduro in a surprise nighttime raid almost two weeks ago.
The Veronica last transmitted its location on Jan. 3 as being at anchor off the coast of Aruba, just north of Venezuela’s main oil terminal. According to the data it transmitted at the time, it was partially filled with crude.
The ship is currently listed as flying the flag of Guyana and is considered part of the shadow fleet that moves cargoes of oil in violation of U.S. sanctions.
According to its registration data, the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, owned and managed by a company in Russia. In addition, a tanker with the same registration number previously sailed under the name Pegas and was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for moving cargoes of illicit Russian oil.
As with prior posts about such raids, Noem and the military framed the seizure as part of an effort to enforce the law. Noem argued that the multiple captures show that “there is no outrunning or escaping American justice.”
However, other officials in Trump's Republican administration have made clear that they see the actions as a way to generate cash as they seek to rebuild Venezuela’s battered oil industry and restore its economy.
Trump met with executives from oil companies last week to discuss his goal of investing $100 billion in Venezuela to repair and upgrade its oil production and distribution. His administration has said it expects to sell at least 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned Venezuelan oil.
This story has been corrected to show the Veronica is the fourth, not the third, tanker seized by U.S. forces since Maduro's capture and the ship also has been known as the Gallileo, not the Galileo.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks with reporters at the White House, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a press conference, Thursday, Jan. 8, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks at a news conference at Harry Reid International Airport, Nov. 22, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ronda Churchill, File)
