The Quai d’Orsay denounced on Monday a “disinformation campaign”, while several foreign media relayed the assertion that French soldiers are on Ukrainian territory.
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No, France has not sent troops to Ukraine. Paris denounced, Monday May 7, on account from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a new “disinformation campaign” on the deployment of French soldiers on Ukrainian soil. The Quai d’Orsay also shows two posts claiming that a Foreign Legion unit commanded by a Frenchman was sent to fight alongside Ukrainian forces.
The media Asia Times maintained on Saturday that Paris had deployed men “in support of the 54th independent Ukrainian mechanized brigade in Slavyansk”coming from “3rd Infantry Regiment” of the Legion. He adds that one hundred men, specialized in “artillery and surveillance”, would have already left, out of a planned total of 1,500 soldiers. This article, which does not cite any source, has been republished numerous times on different social networks and in different languages, notably in English and French. It has also been used by established media, such as the Indian site Hindustan Times.
Frequent disinformation campaigns
In February, Emmanuel Macron refused to rule out the idea of sending Western troops to Ukraine, sparking a wave of publications on the internet mixing exaggerations, approximations and false information. In an interview with the weekly The Economistthe President of the Republic once again assumed this position on Thursday, May 2. “If the Russians were to break through the front lines, if there was a Ukrainian request, which is not the case today, we should legitimately ask ourselves the question.” Vladimir Putin, for his part, ordered Monday the upcoming holding of nuclear exercises in response to comments from Western leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, according to the Kremlin.
This is not the first time that Paris has denied a disinformation campaign of this type. In March, the Ministry of the Armed Forces denounced a false website using its official logo and inviting 200,000 French people to “get involved in Ukraine”, operation attributed by several sources to Russian or pro-Russian interests.
At the beginning of February, Viginum, the French organization fighting against foreign digital interference, also revealed the existence ofa coordinated network of 193 sites, called “Portal Kombat”responsible for spreading Russian propaganda in Europe and the United States.