Posters comparing French soldiers to Nazi collaborators around the French embassy in Moscow

All the bus shelters around the French representation in Moscow are covered with posters calling on French soldiers “not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors”. We can see the photo of a French collaborator, a former officer of the SS Charlemagne division.

As the meeting between Emmanuel Macron and Volodymir Zelensky approaches, planned on the sidelines of the ceremonies for the 80th anniversary of the Landing, the tone is becoming a little more tense between Paris and Moscow. The Russian press claims that Emmanuel Macron will take the opportunity to announce the sending of French military instructors to Ukraine. A prospect which has already angered Moscow. “Regarding the issue of French instructors, I have reason to believe that they are already working in Ukraine. Whether they are classified as members of the French armed forces or mercenaries, they represent a legitimate target for our armed forces “declared Tuesday, June 4, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, visiting the Republic of Congo.

Russia has been accusing France for months of sending mercenaries to Ukraine, which Paris formally denies, but the prospect of sending soldiers from the regular army constitutes for Moscow an additional red line which would be crossed, if necessary. The pro-government media emphasize the dissensions that exist on this subject between European leaders, implying that Emmanuel Macron is isolated. The French head of state is sometimes represented in the uniform of a Napoleonic officer on certain websites, a way of recalling what happened to the Great Army which tried, in 1812, to conquer Russia.

As Russian propaganda regularly uses historical analogies, it is another war which serves as support for the “advertising” campaign which appeared around the French embassy in Moscow on Tuesday. “French, do not repeat the mistakes of your ancestors, their fate is known”can we read on these posters, visible on several bus shelters on Bolchaïa Yakimanka Street.

A photo of a man wearing a beret accompanies it. The legend states that it is Edgar Puaud, French collaborator with the Nazi occupier who notably commanded the SS Charlemagne division. Edgar Puaud disappeared in March 1945 on the border between Germany and Poland. According to some sources, he was probably captured by the Soviet army, but his trace was subsequently lost. He was sentenced to death in absentia in France in October 1946.

The comparison with Nazi collaborators is obviously not trivial, with Moscow claiming to be carrying out a “war against neo-Nazis”. The poster also features a radio frequency that can be used by soldiers who would like to surrender to the Russian army. The campaign was officially financed by a Russian ultranationalist movement, the “National Liberation Movement”. But since the agreement of the Russian authorities is essential to carry out this type of operation, the Kremlin’s blessing seems more than likely. Sergei Lavrov, from Africa, was the first to report the appearance of this campaign, and the Movement’s spokesperson, Denis Ganitch, was immediately questioned by state media. “French troops will simply be eliminated and sent home in coffins,” did he declare.

The method is not new, posters mocking Emmanuel Macron and Volodimir Zelensky had already appeared near the French representation in Moscow. And the walls of the embassy had been sprayed with the “Z” which had become the symbol of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. But this new campaign illustrates the growing degree of tension between Paris and Moscow, particularly since Emmanuel Macron’s first comments not excluding the sending of troops to Ukraine which had provoked the fury of the Russian authorities.