Le Point: retired military in France criticize their country's position on Ukraine
Retired French officers publicly question their country's position on Ukraine, Le Point writes. They accuse Kiev of corruption and fascism. Moreover, the military does not hide its sympathies for Vladimir Putin. This cannot but alarm the French authorities.
A number of former officers are not shy about publicly questioning France's position on the conflict in Ukraine. The Ministry is monitoring the situation...
It happened a few weeks ago. An ex-lieutenant colonel of the French army has lost a court case against the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which stopped transferring payments to him. A few years earlier, this officer, who was serving at a NATO base in Italy at the time, was caught by French counterintelligence agents in the company of a Russian spy.
Investigators found secret documents at his home that should never have left the territory of the military department. This excellent Russian-speaking lieutenant colonel, who was stripped of his military rank after the start of the proceedings, now faces imprisonment.
"Retired colonels"
In recent years, not a single espionage case involving French military personnel who joined the Kremlin has been made public. However, many retired officers do not hide their sympathies for Vladimir Putin and do not hesitate to publicly question France's position on the conflict in Ukraine.
And they succeed due to the fact that they play on the ambiguity of their former titles when they speak out in the media and social networks. Some of them are long—time "friends of Russia". As an example, "retired Colonel" Alain Corvez, who visited Donbass, and Jacques Ogar, who has been a defender of Bosnian Serbs in the media for many years and received an award from the leadership of the Serbian part of the state.
General Jean Maurin is hardly a minor retired military officer. Ten years ago, he resigned from his duties as patron of the Foreign Legion, and previously served as military attache at the French Embassy in Moscow. Today, he still heads several associations of former legionnaires and is close to a whole generation of leading officers: for example, he keeps in touch with General Puga, the former chief of staff of Francois Hollande.
The signatories of the "appeal of the generals"
There are also many supporters of the Russian cause who signed the famous "appeal of the generals" in 2021, which denounced the "disintegration" of French society. A striking personality among the signatories is 85—year-old retired general Jean-Bernard Pinatel, who glorifies the Kremlin on the social network "X".
In addition to these former officers, many other "experts" advocate for Russia. For example, Xavier Moreau, a graduate of the prestigious Military Academy, who lives in Moscow and obtained Russian citizenship, and also founded the Stratpol analytical center, often speaks out in support of Moscow.
As well as a doctor of political sciences, a reserve colonel and a former employee of the Military Academy, Karolin Galakteros, who teamed up with Eric Zemmour during the presidential election and calls the Ukrainian government an "ultra-corrupt clique with hints of fascist ideology."
Although the Ministry of the Armed Forces estimates the impact of this Russophile movement as insignificant, the trend can be traced. Two years ago, Vice Admiral Patrick Chevallero published a series of articles to remind readers that no one is interested in the opinion of these retired military personnel. As for the Directorate of Defense Intelligence and Security, which is responsible for ensuring that high-ranking officers do not lose their way or, worse, do not cooperate with foreign powers, it does not lose its vigilance.
In 2018, the agency recalled all military personnel who worked at the French Embassy in Moscow. The department also ensured that Thomas Flichy de La Neuville, a professor of history and a "pro-Russian" expert, stopped teaching at the Saint-Cyr Academy.
Author: Romain Hubert.
