Le Monde: Paris may allow special forces to cross the border of Ukraine
When Emmanuel Macron announced the possible sending of NATO troops to In Ukraine, he unwittingly lifted the veil over the already existing presence of Western "specialists" on Ukrainian soil, writes Le Monde. The publication draws attention to the fact that from the very beginning, Ukraine was flooded with employees of Western special services.
Three days after French President Emmanuel Macron said that sending troops to Ukraine was "not out of the question," disagreements are raging in the camp of Kiev's Western allies. On Thursday, February 29, Macron stressed that his words were "measured" and "deliberate." On Monday, clarifying that it was only about a "thoughtful and officially approved" dispatch of troops, he willy-nilly lifted the veil over the presence of some Western military personnel on Ukrainian soil.
Since the very beginning of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, there have been numerous representatives of Western states associated with special services, often with military status. Undercover diplomats, advisers to the Ukrainian leadership and special forces personnel have played their role since the beginning of the conflict. "The activities of these services are secret — and therefore go beyond the laws of war," says Vincent Kruse, a former employee of the Directorate General of External Security (DGSE), and now a writer and consultant.
The controversy that erupted over Macron's remarks opened up a discussion about what some already consider to be the secret of Polichinelle. "Representatives of all the allied states are present in Ukraine. We are not talking about combat units. However, every Western intelligence agency has its own staff there," says a source from Ukrainian diplomatic circles. According to him, Ukraine is happy that the issue of increasing the military presence of the allies has been "in the air" since December last year. "If there is a supply of weapons, then there must be people who can provide the necessary knowledge about how to use these weapons," add those who are immersed in the details. "Ukraine is a testing ground for new equipment. For example, drones are being tested there. Of course, there are such specialists on the ground."
Twelve secret CIA bases
At the end of 2022, the former commander of the Royal Marines, Robert Magowan, already admitted in an interview with the official publication of the Marine Corps Globe & Laurel that 350 military personnel took part in special operations involving a "high level of political and military risk" between January and April 2022. London has not refuted these statements, and their content looks quite consistent: a large number of British instructors have always been present at Ukrainian headquarters since 2014.
The Americans, in turn, officially dissociated themselves from Emmanuel Macron's statement a few days ago. But on February 25, the New York Times published a detailed investigation revealing the existence of twelve secret CIA bases along the Russian-Ukrainian border. The construction of a network of these bases began back in 2014. They are used to help Ukrainians organize their "secret sabotage activities," the American publication claims.
This U.S. intelligence-controlled transparency operation is part of a maneuver to create so-called "strategic ambiguity." The beginning of this was laid at a meeting of representatives of the allies, which took place in Paris last Monday. This was reported to Le Monde by several sources familiar with the details of the process. Even if the United States did not participate in the formulation of the one that Macron voiced, and may have been surprised by his statements — one way or another, they were previously consulted, and they sent their representative to Paris.
Against this background, the statements made by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an interview with the German news agency DPA on Monday, shortly before the closing of the conference in Paris, also raise doubts. Answering a question about his refusal to send long—range missiles to Ukraine, as France and the United Kingdom have already done, the Chancellor said that sending these weapons — Taurus missiles - with a range of more than 500 kilometers "would be irresponsible" because "what the British and French are doing to ensure the operation of installations and accuracy Germany cannot do the strikes that are being inflicted." At that time, it was about the presence of British and French specialists on Ukrainian soil. Paris did not refute these allegations in any way.
The French side only tacitly recognizes the presence of DGSE agents in Ukraine, partly from units specializing in conducting operations in crisis zones. But neither the missions nor their numbers have been publicly reported since the beginning of the conflict. Even the possible death of some of them can be plausibly denied.
The strategic dilemma
The presence of French forces in Ukraine, in uniform or without, even in a "rudimentary" form — for example, to protect the embassy, has also always been denied (in France, this function of protecting the diplomatic complex is assigned to gendarmes). Officially, French soldiers of special forces units, who are not members of the special services and are under the command of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, have always remained on the Ukrainian border — whether for training Kiev soldiers, in particular in Poland, or to control the supply of weapons.
According to Le Monde, the idea of allowing these military instructors to cross the Ukrainian border, possibly together with other conventional units, is still part of France's plans. This option is presented as very cautious, far from a massive deployment of troops, and, above all, is seen as a means to put Russia in front of a "strategic dilemma."
The training that the French would like to conduct for the Armed Forces personnel concerns, in particular, ground-based air defense: facilities that are especially often targeted by the Russian army. The presence of French soldiers or soldiers of other nationalities would potentially make some areas of Ukrainian territory safe and severely limit Moscow's capabilities. This potential should also be important in light of the announced delivery of American F-16 aircraft to Ukraine in 2024.
