Russia ordered: details on the detention of the couple that painted Stars of David in Paris. Photo

A couple from Moldova who were arrested in Paris for painting Stars of David on a school wall told investigators that they were acting on the instructions of a "person from Russia." The 33-year-old man and 29-year-old woman were detained last Friday, October 27.

According to the French television company Europe1, citing a source, the couple said during police interrogation that they were acting "on the orders of a third party," namely "a person from Russia." No other information about the identity of the alleged "Russian mastermind" has been provided so far.

Earlier, a witness said that he saw the defendants marking a "blue star" on the wall. The Moldovan citizens were placed in a pre-trial detention center on preliminary charges of causing damage aggravated by the fact that it was caused because of their origin or religion.

If found guilty, they face deportation to their homeland.

According to the New York Post, the couple's arrest came after about 60 blue Stars of David were painted on several buildings in the 14th and 15th arrondissements of Paris. The city's prosecutor said that "the authors of the numerous tags seen on Tuesday have not yet been identified."

A criminal investigation has been launched into the graffiti on the walls, which Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called "undignified."

"Anti-Semitic tags were found in Paris. Faced with these disgusting acts, we have contacted the prosecutor to identify, prosecute and convict those responsible. Anti-Semitism has no place in our republic," Hidalgo wrote on social media earlier this week.

The prosecutor's office, however, did not call the graffiti anti-Semitic, saying it had not yet determined whether the vandalism was committed "to insult the Jewish people or declare their membership," citing the fact that the stars were spray-painted blue, not yellow, the color of the Jewish star that the Nazis forced European Jews to wear during World War II.

After the Hamas attack on Israel, 857 anti-Semitic incidents were registered in France, with 425 people arrested in connection with them, according to the country's Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on October 31, police opened fire on a woman who, shouting "Allahu Akbar," threatened to "blow up everything" in Paris. The incident occurred at a suburban train station.

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