It was the heist that shocked the French nation: on 19 October, a team of thieves brazenly broke into the Louvre Museum, stealing jewels worth approximately 88 million in broad daylight.
But as with every major news story, internet users took to social media platforms to comment and speculate on the burglary, while others used the opportunity to peddle disinformation and false allegations.
One narrative blamed Russian nationals for the heist, alleging that Russian passports had been discovered inside the museum following the incident, with one X post peddling this claim garnering more than 7 million views.
Euronews put allegations regarding a Russian passport to the Paris prosecutor's office, who stated that such suggestions were "completely fake".
Other social media users claimed that stolen jewellery, previously belonging to Queen Marie-Amélie, the last Queen of France, had been found for sale on a Russian website and directed X users to Telegram for more information.
However, Avito — the Russian advertising platform on which the listing was posted — responded to the online allegations by confirming that although listings for Queen Marie-Amélie's jewels had been posted, they were in fact part of a "prank".
"People with critical thinking skills understand that this is just a prank", stated Avito,...
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