France discreetly equipped the Russian army between 2014 and 2020, taking advantage of a legal loophole, according to an investigation by the investigative site Disclose posted Monday, March 14. According to our colleagues, this equipment which has contributed to modernizing the land and air forces of Russia could today be used in the war in Ukraine.
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However, since August 2014, the European Union has imposed an arms embargo on Russia. But as the contract is not retroactive, the contracts signed before this embargo can be maintained and the deliveries of arms ensured, a breach in which the governments of François Hollande and Emmanuel Macron have engulfed, assures Disclose.
⚡️[EXCLUSIF] France delivered weapons to Russia between 2015 and 2020, according to the investigation of @Disclose_ngo
Military equipment that could equip Russian tanks and fighter planes used in the war in #Ukraine https://t.co/frYEqp4XTd pic.twitter.com/8I8vlkKM4Y
— Disclose (@Disclose_ngo) March 14, 2022
Ariane Lavrilleux, one of the authors of this investigation, denounces “a political choice, totally behind closed doors”.
“This is happening within a commission placed under defense secrecy with representatives of the Ministry of the Armed Forces and all that which is placed under the authority of the Prime Minister.”
Ariane Lavrilleuxat franceinfo
Ariane Lavrilleux asserts that the French State has “decided since 2014 that these weapons did not pose any problems and that we could continue to export them to Russia”.
The investigative site obtained information through confidential-defense documents and open sources. They show that France has issued 76 export licenses for war material to Russia since 2015, for an amount of 152 million euros, as indicated in the latest report by Parliament on arms exports by viewed Disclose.
According to this investigation, these exports mainly concern thermal cameras intended to equip more than 1,000 Russian tanks as well as navigation systems and infrared detectors for fighter planes and combat helicopters of the Russian air force. The main beneficiaries of these markets, according to Disclose, are the companies Thales and Safran, of which the French State is the leading shareholder.
These “Catherine FC” and “Catherine XP” thermal cameras sold to Russia can be integrated into the sighting system of an assault tank and can detect human targets in the middle of the night, or spot a vehicle within a radius of 10 kilometers . According to the investigative site, these cameras have already been used to “open fire” in Ukraine in 2014 during the conflict in Donbass. Now in 2022, these cameras could once again be fitted to some of the tanks firing at Ukrainians, according to Disclose.
️ Ariane Lavrilleux, one of the authors of the investigation conducted by the media “Disclose”, on arms sales from France to Russia from 2015 to 2020: “The contracts that were signed before the embargo are still valid . A political choice, totally behind closed doors”. pic.twitter.com/2FnzohglDg
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) March 14, 2022
In addition, the investigation site ensures that “Matis STD” cameras from the French group Safran equip three types of Russian tanks present on the Ukrainian front. And according to information from Disclose, the French arms industry also equips the Russian Air Force. Thus, the Thales group, since a contract signed in 2014, with deliveries that took place until 2018, has equipped 60 SU-30 fighter planes with its Tacan navigation system, a video screen and a state-of-the-art HUD viewfinder. Today these fighter jets fly over Ukraine night and day, according to Disclose.
Finally, our colleagues ensure that Russian army Ka-52 helicopters fly over Ukraine and have on board an infrared imaging system produced by Safran. According to Disclosethe company Sofradir, owned by Safran and Thales, signed a 5.2 million euro contract with Russia in October 2012, and according to a note discovered by the investigation site, Sofradir must still deliver “258 infrared detectors to the Russian company TCP Linkos.
“In general, in controlling arms exports, France complies very strictly with its international commitments, particularly the common position of the EU and the Arms Trade Treaty”, indicated the Ministry of the Armed Forces to France Television on Monday March 14 before adding that for this particular case, “France very strictly applies the embargo on arms sales to Russia decided in 2014, and will apply just as strictly the measures recently taken, which are in addition to the previous ones.”
The Ministry of the Armed Forces specifies that in the context of the application of these measures, “France allowed the execution of certain contracts entered into before 2014, under the ‘grandfather clause’. This possibility was clearly included in Regulation 833/2014 setting up the sanctions regime against Russia. France no Moreover, it is not the only European country to have used it.”