French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that he “cannot exclude” the possibility of Western soldiers being sent to aid Kiev in its fight against Moscow, branding Russia an “adversary” while denying Paris was “waging war” against it.
Russia’s military and top officials have repeatedly pointed to the presence of French mercenaries already fighting for Kiev on the ground.
In the statement on Tuesday, the SVR chief said the French Armed Forces had become “concerned” about the rising number of French nationals dying in Ukraine.
The casualty level has supposedly surpassed a “psychological threshold” and could trigger protests, the statement said, adding that Macron’s government was concealing this information and “delaying” the moment it would have to be revealed.
The claims come as the chief of staff of the French Army, Gen. Pierre Schill, said in an interview on Tuesday that France is prepared to take part in the “toughest engagements” militarily, and is ready to face any international developments. He added that Paris could assemble a division of 20,000 troops within 30 days and an army of 60,000 by joining with divisions from other NATO allies.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also claimed this week that Western mercenaries, including French nationals, are dying in Ukraine “in large numbers.” Commenting on a potential NATO deployment to Ukraine, the president also warned that this would be “one step shy of a full-scale World War III.”
Cross posted this from lemmygrad
I know Europeans have been in theater the entire conflict but they’ve been acting as foreign fighters. Also the amount of surveillance equipment in Ukraine means that unless you’re in protected nato territory then you are not doing shit on the back end. Ukrainian rear lines are actively being hit constantly. Being part of missile defense is being a combatant.
This however is different, they’re not talking about foreign French fighter (of which there are already many of in Ukraine. Russia killed 60 of them recently) they’re talking about French troops I assume in French uniform. My theory is they are going in to protect Odessa. Basically to act as a shield for Ukraines last port. The French already acknowledged if they send troops they will be legitimate targets for Russia. They’re wanting to see if Russia is willing to fire on nato troops. Problem is Russia has already said they’re prepared to fight NATO. From my perspective this war either ends with Russia allowing Ukraine to keep Odessa or this broadens into an actual war between Russia and whatever European nations decide to follow France’s lead. The Germans are already making plans to take down the Crimea bridge.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65245065
There have been official western troops not operating as mercenaries in Ukraine for quite some time
This is the part that makes all the difference in the world. Even though we all know special operations forces are acting in Ukraine, unless you can prove they’re taking orders directly from their respective nations they are no different from a foreign fighter. Throw in the fact that Ukraine is wearing western uniforms themselves there is no way to distinguish an SAS or Green Beret operative from a Ukrainian. This is what makes Macrons troop comment significant. These will be known French troops out in the open taking orders from France.