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President Macron is secretly planning to send thousands of French soldiers to the fighting in Ukraine.
This is what the Russian intelligence service claims with reference to “spy reports”.
– The sword is waiting for you, says the Russian spy chief Sergei Naryshkin.
An official one communiqué from the Foreign Intelligence Service of Russia (SVR) on Tuesday, the headline is “Macron drives the French to slaughter”.
It claims that a large number of French soldiers have already been killed by Russian troops in Ukraine.
According to SVR, France has not seen such military losses abroad “since the war against Algeria in 1954-1962” – which made the French leadership “noticeably worried”.
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full screen In the communique from the Russian intelligence service, French soldiers are threatened.
“Thousands of soldiers”
A number of soldiers from the West, including French citizens, participate as volunteers in the battles against Russia.
The Russians are now suggesting that French soldiers were sent on an official mission from their own leadership.
SVR writes that France is doing everything to hide its involvement and is trying to bury its repatriated dead citizens in secret.
“However, the current leadership in the country does not care about the death of ordinary French people”, they state without a trace of irony.
Spy chief Sergei Naryshkin now claims in the statement that President Macron and the French military are preparing to send thousands of soldiers to Ukraine. In a first step, it would be about 2,000 soldiers.
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full screen Russian spy chief Sergei Naryshkin. Photo: AP
“The Sword Awaits”
As a source for this claim, they refer to “information collected by the intelligence service”.
– The sword awaits all Frenchmen who enter Russian territory, says the spy chief in the statement.
The Russians believe that such a large troop movement “will not be able to be stationed in Ukraine unnoticed” and that Macron “sooner or later will have to reveal the ugly truth”.
The countries in NATO have been clear that no combat troops from the member countries should be sent to the war.
However, the tone between Russia and France has turned up since Macron, as the first leader in the West, earlier in March opened up about sending soldiers to Ukraine.
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French President Emanuel Macron aboard a warship in southern France. He has opened up about sending French soldiers to Ukraine.
1 / 2Photo: AP
Military instructors
He added, however, that in such cases it would mainly be about military instructors who will train Ukrainian soldiers on site.
– We are approaching a time in Europe where it is extremely important not to be a coward, Macron said a couple of days later.
The response from Moscow was not long in coming.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called the statement “dangerous” and said that “the entire West is playing with fire.”
In connection with this, Putin once again threatened that Russia may resort to nuclear weapons if soldiers from NATO enter the country.
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French soldiers during a military exercise.
1 / 2Photo: AP
“France is ready”
It is against this background that the “data” of the Russian foreign intelligence service should be seen.
On Tuesday, French army chief Pierre Schill said, without specific reference to the war in Ukraine, that France is ready “for the toughest challenges”, writes The Moscow Times.
He also said that “the centers of crisis are increasing and bring with them risks of spreading”.
According to Schill, France can mobilize 20,000 soldiers within 30 days.