Pro-Russian resources reported that, due to the absence of Russian gas, the room temperature in French schools, universities, and kindergartens significantly dropped as they tried to lower their electricity bills.
Our fact-checking department found that that’s a manipulation. The reason for low temperatures is not the electricity costs, but the disrepair and neglected state of the old buildings where educational institutions reside.
What happened?
On January 17, Telegram channels that systematically spread pro-Russian propaganda, in particular Mriya, Medved, SVEZHESKI, and Halyna Tsariova posted the news that, because of increased electricity costs and lack of funds, educational institutions in France need to cut their spendings. Expensive energy bills, they write, is because of the absence of Russian gas in Europe (connected, of course, to Ukraine halting transit of Russian gas to EU on Jan 1, 2025).
As evidence for this news, Telegram authors offer a video with a French voiceover and the logo of French media M6 Info.
“Yes… it’s fun for Europeans without Russian gas. In many schools, universities, and kindergartens in France, the room temperature is dropping to +10°С. Because electricity gets more expensive and because of underfinancing, France’s [educational] institutions have to save costs [on power],” Telegram posts say.
The news has been spread by Russian accounts online, in particular on X (1, 2), Facebook, Russian social media VKontakte, and on other Russian resources.
Analysis
First, we looked at the video the news offers as evidence and checked the official resources of M6 Info, a French media outlet. We found that the video shared on Telegram is original. It was published on Jan 15 on the media’s official resources.
For the next step, we looked into the video’s context, as well as the context of the situation in general.
This winter, some educational institutions and kindergartens in the French northern city of Saint-Denis had significant issues with heating. The room temperature in the city dropped to 12-13°C and lower.
According to information from Saint-Denis Parent Federation, the heating issues affected four school groups: Franc-Moisin, Pleyel-Anatole France, Hugo-Balzac, Louise Michel-Bel Air, and Gisèle-Halimi, a kindergarten, and Jules-Vallès, an elementary school.
The educational facility that suffered the most is the school group Franc-Moisin (which includes two primary schools, Rodin і Renoir and the kindergarten).
“It started with the dining hall, which was no longer heated. The thermometer read 6°C. The school then installed auxiliary heaters in the classrooms. The temperature is now around 13 or 14°C, never more than 15. And since Monday, December 6, the dormitories have also been affected”, explains Aline Lakraa, mother of two children in kindergarten and primary school and FCPE representative.
Saint-Denis’ administration admitted to issues with heating. They said that problems are connected to the “catastrophic” state of the old buildings that weren’t repaired or maintained properly, which led to bad isolation and hazardous heating conditions. The deputy mayor of Saint-Denis said, “30 years of inaction, as we’ve found, can’t be solved in four years of mandate.”
The authorities claimed that they’re doing everything possible to fix the situation, including increasing the budget for repairs of municipal buildings from 1.5 million in 2020 to 5 million in 2024. According to the administration’s representative, apart from maintenance repairs in the problematic facilities, they plan to complete the work in one of the kindergartens during the February holidays.
“We’re solving this issue, and to solve all the problems, we’ll need much more time than one term in office, but we’ve picked up this task – as back in 2020, we tripled our investment budget [to do that],” reported Katy Bontinck, the deputy mayor.
Since Mathieu Hanotin became mayor of Saint-Louis in 2020, authorities implemented a general audit in 2021 and the monitoring table. All schools were supplied with electric heaters that were delivered [to educational facilities] every winter. Along with the National Education Inspection (IEN). For now, they try to adapt the facilities and group students in classrooms with heating. “We work case by case because each situation is unique,” the authorities explained.
So, problems with heating really exist in some preschool facilities and other education buildings in Saint-Denis, France. But the reason for the issues isn’t the increase in electricity costs, cut energy bills, or the absence of Russian gas. It’s the neglected condition of the old buildings, in which the lack of proper technical maintenance and timely repairs led to the disruption of heating.
Conclusion: Manipulation
Author: Anna Ormanzhi
Our Kharkiv-based newsroom has been doing fact-checking for almost three years: through Russia’s all-out war, it’s been vital to provide our audience with insights into how Russian propaganda (and propaganda, period) works. Thank you for keeping an eye on our debunking pieces. If you can, please consider supporting our fact-checkers on Patreon, BMC, or PayPal.
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