Rumor about “French mercenaries” in Ukraine: Paris has identified a “coordinated Russian maneuver”

Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, France has been “the target of a Russian disinformation campaign,” which “intensified” in mid-January following Emmanuel Macron’s “confirmation of (French) support for Ukraine,” the text said. this Friday morning.

Paris has uncovered a “coordinated maneuver by Russia” to spread false information involving France, such as the alleged presence of French “mercenaries” fighting for Kyiv in Ukraine, the Armed Forces Ministry said on Friday.

“Relevant government agencies have identified and are monitoring a coordinated maneuver by Russia, including through pro-Russian information networks and state media such as Sputnik News, RT and RIA Novosti, to transmit and disseminate this false information,” the ministry said in a statement.

Dissemination of “lists of alleged French mercenaries”

The day after Emmanuel Macron announced new arms supplies to Kyiv on January 17, assessing that “we cannot allow Russia to win,” the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that it had struck a building in Kharkov (north-eastern Ukraine). ), serving as a “temporary housing area for mercenaries, most of whom were French citizens.” Sixty militants were “destroyed” and 20 were wounded, Moscow said at the time.

The “Russian disinformation maneuver” continued on Monday with the circulation of “lists of alleged French mercenaries killed in this attack on Russian Telegram channels,” knowing that “some of these lists were already distributed in 2022, in the first weeks of the conflict.” – explains the French Ministry of Armed Forces.

On Wednesday, the “campaign” continued with Sputnik International reporting the destruction of the Franco-Italian SAMP-T surface-to-air system supplied to Ukraine from the same source. However, “none of this information has been confirmed by France,” the Ministry of the Armed Forces insists.

Enhanced monitoring system

“Faced with increased French military assistance to Ukraine, we expect this Russian intoxication maneuver to continue: we condemn it and strengthen our system for monitoring these manipulations,” Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu warned in this press release.

“In France there is no mercenaries“neither in Ukraine nor anywhere else, unlike others,” the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already responded by condemning “the new gross Russian manipulation.”

While the war in Ukraine quickly attracted foreign volunteers to fight alongside Ukrainian soldiers, and some of the French mentioned are likely to belong to the Ukrainian International Legion, some of the names appearing on the Russian lists are false, a French diplomatic source also told AFP.

The word “mercenary” chosen by Moscow is important. French law prohibits mercenary activity or activities related to fighting for rewards abroad, punishable by 5 years in prison and a fine of 75,000 euros. The term is also used by France to denounce the activities of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, which Paris has accused for years of predation and war crimes in Africa.