The controversial £35,000 lookalike of France’s President Emmanuel Macron has been stolen from a Paris museum by two women and a man over France’s continued involvement with Russia.
The Green Peace activists allegedly entered the Grevin Museum in central Paris posing as tourists, covered the £35,000 lookalike with a blanket and left through an emergency exit.
One local outlet reported that the activists changed their clothes once inside to look like employees, allowing them to get close to the display.
Activists then set up a demonstration outside the Russian embassy in the 16th arrondissement with placards, a Russian flag, mock warning road signs and a wax statue of French President Emmanuel Macron.
The director general of Greenpeace France, Jean-François Julliard, said: ‘For us, France is playing a double game.
‘Emmanuel Macron embodies this double discourse: he supports Ukraine but encourages French companies to continue trading with Russia’.
‘Emmanuel Macron is being specifically targeted because he bears particular responsibility in this situation.’
He added that Macron ‘should be the one to lead European discussions’ to end trade contracts between European countries and Russia.
Despite sanctions and Macron’s fierce support for Ukraine, Greenpeace say France has continued to import large amounts of gas, uranium and chemical fertiliser from Russia.
Between 2021 and 2022, France tripled its imports of Russian industrial nuclear products, according to a study by Polish think tank Forum Energii. This has since come down slightly.
According to European Gas Hub, France became the largest European importer of Russian liquefied natural gas, surging by almost 80 per cent in 2024 compared to the year before.
