Striking an ominous tone, Rybar, a prominent military blogger with more than a million followers on Telegram, warned far-right parties in Europe would be facing “a new round of repression and pressure.”
“Some, against the backdrop of growing discontent with support for so-called Ukraine, will be accused of sympathizing with Russia, and some will be prosecuted,” Rybar wrote, referring to the recent Russiagate scandal embroiling far-right politicians in Germany who are suspected of receiving Russian financing.
“This is just the beginning,” Rybar added.
In some quarters the tone was slightly more moderate. “There hasn’t been a revolution,” the Russia in Global Affairs think tank, which advises the Kremlin on foreign policy, wrote on Telegram.
But it added: “Macron put the Ukrainian question and the promise to interfere militarily at the heart of his campaign … The results show that this failed to excite voters.”
Halfway through Monday, perhaps the most extreme reaction came from the man appointed by Moscow as the Foreign Ministry’s ambassador in charge of “the Kyiv regime’s crimes,” Rodion Miroshnik, who told the Rossia-24 television channel that Macron should have criminal charges brought against him.
“In an effort to show his Napoleonic approach, he has taken serious steps to try to provoke an escalation on Russian territory and against Russia,” Miroshnik said, accusing the French leader of being complicit in Ukrainian war crimes. The International Court of Justice, he admitted, was unlikely to cooperate with such an initiative.