Overview
- Russia's foreign intelligence service says up to 2,000 French soldiers and officers are being readied for deployment to support Kyiv.
- The service claims some French personnel, including Foreign Legion troops, are already in eastern Poland equipped and trained to enter Ukraine soon.
- Russian state media amplify the narrative with imperial imagery portraying Emmanuel Macron as seeking Napoleonic glory.
- France's Ministry of the Armed Forces calls the allegation entirely false and labels it a disinformation operation propagated through TASS and social platforms.
- No independent evidence has surfaced to support the assertions, which include reports of French hospitals preparing for casualties and reflect a recurring pattern of accusations.