On October 7, Russian presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev linked video of clashes in France to what he described as problems in Western policy.
Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the Russian president’s special representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries, commented on a video on X showing clashes between police and protesters in France. He said the West may have passed a “point of no return” because of what he called systematic lies and an inability to address the causes of its own problems.
Dmitriev listed migration, energy-policy miscalculations, the instigation of wars, polarisation and the influence of “woke” ideology. These are the Russian official’s views; the RIA Novosti report did not include a response from French authorities or an independent assessment of the causes he cited.
RIA Novosti reports that French high-school students have been protesting for a second week over overloaded schedules, teacher shortages and other education issues. The agency says more than 6,000 people have been detained during the protests, most of them minors. It also relays French media reports of tear-gas use and clashes in Paris, Toulouse, Lyon, Nantes, Rennes and Laval.