Russia tries to sabotage Paris elections, but Burnazels is already complaining like a Liepāja resident about pool temperature

The French government agency 'Viginum' has announced that it has uncovered the group 'Storm-1516', which attempted to discredit Paris mayoral candidate Pierre-Yves Burnazels. While Paris worries about disinformation on social networks, in Liepāja we've known for years that the real disinformation is the claim that the Liepāja Olympic Center pool is warm and the water is always clean.

Burnazels complained that a fake video was spread in his name, claiming he wants to convert the Pompidou Center into a migrant reception center. Such behavior would be completely understandable in Liepāja — if someone tried to convert our Olympic Center into something else, we would protest too. Especially if it meant we could no longer listen to the water heaters gurgling like old coffee machines.

Currently, 'Storm-1516' is responsible for 77 disinformation operations since the end of 2023. For comparison — visitors to Liepāja's Olympic Center have spread at least 200 pieces of disinformation about there being hot water in the showers. Local swimmer Jānis Bērziņš commented: 'If the Russians really want to harm Western countries, let them come to our pool in winter — after five minutes in cold water they'll forget all about disinformation.'

The Paris elections will take place on March 15, but Burnazels is already warning about foreign interference. While France worries about Russian operations, in Liepāja we know that real interference is when someone tries to reserve a pool lane on Monday morning, not knowing it's reserved for water aerobics.