The Russian-French Foundation for the Development of Historical Initiatives, chaired by Pierre Malinowski, is presented in the supplied material as part of a wider network connecting Russian state institutions with French right-wing and far-right circles.
Malinowski’s search for the remains of French General Louis-Pierre de Montbrun, who died during the 1812 Battle of Borodino and whose name is engraved on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, is described as extending beyond archaeology. The material says that similar foundation projects have received high-level support in Russia and may be used to promote a favourable background for restoring Russian-French relations, particularly ahead of France’s 2027 presidential election.
According to information attributed to the foundation, Malinowski presented his work to Vladimir Putin in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. The foundation also reports cooperation with the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Russian Military Historical Society and an expeditionary centre linked to Russia’s Ministry of Defence. It lists Russia’s defence, foreign affairs and culture ministries, as well as the National Guard, among bodies that have supported its projects.
The material links Malinowski to France’s right-wing political environment. In 2014, he worked as an aide to Jean-Marie Le Pen, the former leader of the far-right National Front, and later worked with European Parliament member Aymeric Chauprade, who was elected for the same party. The foundation was formally opened in Moscow on 22 October 2018, after Malinowski moved there in 2017. On 22 July 2022, Putin signed a decree granting him Russian citizenship.
Yelizaveta Peskova, daughter of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, worked in structures associated with Chauprade in 2018 and 2019 and later became a vice-president of the foundation. The Council of the European Union identified her foundation position when it placed her on an EU sanctions list in June 2022. The material also says that Dmitry Peskov attended foundation events and publicly supported its projects.
Chauprade served as a Member of the European Parliament from 2014 to 2019 and worked in Marine Le Pen’s political circle, focusing on international affairs. The account characterises his position as supporting closer relations between France and Russia and as involving pro-Russian assessments of events in Ukraine. It says these links created an intersection between Russian officials and French right-wing figures.
The foundation has organised or funded expeditions connected with the Napoleonic campaign, the Crimean War, and the First and Second World Wars. It reports that an expedition in July 2019 found the remains of General Charles-Étienne Gudin near Smolensk; DNA testing was used for identification, and the remains were transferred to France in 2021 and buried at the Invalides in Paris on 2 December that year.
Further projects were reported in occupied Crimea and Sevastopol in October 2020, and in Vyazma, Volgograd and St Petersburg in 2021. The foundation also reported expeditions involving Maloyaroslavets and the Russian Expeditionary Force in France in 2023, as well as the discovery that September of the remains of six Russian First World War soldiers at Cours in France.
The material says that Russian officials, including former Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, supported early projects. Medinsky later participated in their promotion. Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service and head of the Russian Historical Society, is also described as being involved in historical-memory initiatives concerning France.
According to the account, these activities can shift discussion from Russia’s war against Ukraine, sanctions and European security towards shared historical memory. It says cultural and educational organisations such as Rossotrudnichestvo provide additional channels for contact with French academic, civic and political circles. The material concludes that historical and cultural exchange should be distinguished from initiatives that may be used to encourage favourable views of the Kremlin’s present-day policies.
