Did France send foreign troops to Ukraine? – Liberation

In his newsletter, an American named Stephen Brain claims, without reliable evidence, that the French army sent about a hundred soldiers to fight against Russia. French civil servants deny this.

France has “deployed a foreign force” on the Ukrainian front. Several French-speaking accounts on X (formerly Twitter) confirm this. Among them, far-right activist David van Hemelrich, or pro-Russian Brainless partisans.

According to these accounts, a “The Most Serious Evidence”. In this case, from the Asia Times website, an article signed by a certain Stephen Bryan was published on May 4.

There we read that the French soldiers stationed “near the Salvianks” would arrive “From 3rd Infantry Regiment”It will be “One of the main components of the Foreign Legion”. For now, the deployment, according to this article, includes about 100 soldiers, artillery specialists, but 1,500 should eventually arrive in Ukraine.

Stephen Bryan presents himself as an expert on defense and technology, citing his experience as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (under the Reagan administration in the late 1980s). He is part of several American think tanks, all very conservative, and contributes to various media outlets The Washington Times (Established by pro-Trump Daily Lunar Division) Or Epoch Times (A Chinese-American newspaper that publishes massive amounts of false information).

The article about the alleged French presence in Ukraine was actually published in his personal newsletter on the Substack platform and reproduced verbatim (“with his permission”) in online media Asia Times, whose editorial has varied in recent years. Contrary to what has been claimed on several occasions (including in the Azeri or Italian media), this is not an article written by an Asian newspaper, but by an American blogger.

An article based on a tweet published by Sputnik

Contacted by Check the messagesStephen explains that Brian got his information “Telegram Channels” and Social Network X (formerly Twitter). And don’t seem particularly concerned about the problem of verifying information: “The question is whether the reports on Telegram, Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere are credible. In general, you have to be careful, but this information is convincing enough for me to accept it. I understand that some people will not accept the veracity of a story unless it comes from a major news source. Unfortunately, for Ukraine, most of the detailed information comes from bloggers, as the Western press on the battlefield is tightly controlled, if limited.

Stephen Bryan points out that after all, it was based on a tweet by Sputnik, the Kremlin’s media mouthpiece (and well-known for spreading disinformation).

In this message dated April 13 (which is no longer accessible), Sputnik reported the same information as the American author. Height of Absurdity: In an article published todaySputnik now notes that the information about French troops in Ukraine came from Stephen Brien.

By the end of April, the same American writer had already argued that NATO “Starts Sending Combat Forces to Ukraine”. He mentioned “Polish, French, British or Finnish soldiers” who arrived “in large numbers”, and wear “Uniforms with their country’s flag” on the front. Here again, without providing evidence for his allegations. and hopes that a Russian victory will make it possible to avoid it “Wide War in Europe”.

Stephen Bryan, in his text, has compiled approximations of the Foreign Legion (for example describing it as reserved for foreigners including French soldiers), above all unaware that the 3rd Infantry Division of the Legion was actually engaged. “permanently” In French Guiana. Several thousand km from eastern Ukraine. It has little to do with artillery as its strongest points “Fighting in the Equatorial Jungle” and monitoring tasks.

“We legitimately have to question ourselves.”

Correspondingly, the Army General Staff, on its part, vouches Czech News “No French soldiers on Ukrainian soil”. and details of the French positions “Eastern Europe” : “French soldiers are involved in Estonia (Operation Lynx) and Romania (Operation Eagle). French forces are also contributing to air defense operations in the eastern part of the Atlantic Alliance, in Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and Croatia, in the air, known as airshielding.

Note that Emmanuel Macron, for his part, estimated that this Tuesday, May 2, we “A legitimate question to ask” If the military situation on the Ukrainian side continues to deteriorate, troops should be stationed on Ukrainian soil.