PARIS, March 19. /TASS/. Publicizing the truth about the deaths of the French military in Ukraine coupled with French President Emmanuel Macron's plans to send a military contingent to that country will trigger a major outcry that will have dire consequences for the current French leadership, Florian Philippot, the leader of The Patriots party in France told TASS in comments on data from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) on the French military in Ukraine.
"I am not surprised that the French military is already present in Ukraine and there are fatalities among them. We need to bring them all back to their homeland as soon as possible. When the truth comes out, it will be a huge scandal that will sweep Macron away," he said. "If it turns out that he lied about the presence of French soldiers there, I don't think he will be able to avoid at least a no confidence vote that will topple the government," Philippot said, adding that the military also has its own unofficial channels to express discontent via the media and influence government policy.
The politician said he was stunned to read a statement by Sergey Naryshkin, Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), about Macron's plans to send a 2,000-strong military contingent to Ukraine. According to Philippot, this information should be circulated as widely as possible among the residents of the republic, as most of them do not want their country to be dragged into a foreign military conflict.
""Macron is sinking more and more into madness, and I say this seriously. The French do not agree with him. It should also brought to the notice of the French military leadership that the people will not put up with this. It will be a slaughter for our country, which could eventually lead to World War III," he said.
Russian SVR data on French military in Ukraine
The Russian side has information that France is preparing to send a military contingent of 2,000 troops to Ukraine, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergey Naryshkin said earlier.
"The current leadership of the country (France - TASS) does not care about the deaths of ordinary French people or about the concerns of the generals. According to information coming to the Russian SVR, a contingent to be sent to Ukraine is already being prepared. Initially, it will include around 2,000 troops," he said.
According to the foreign intelligence chief, the French Army is "visibly concerned" over the growing number of French citizens killed in Ukraine. "As the French Ministry of Defense unofficially admits, the country has not suffered similar losses abroad since the Algerian war in the second half of the 20th century," Naryshkin underscored.
"As they say in the Elysee Palace, the number of French killed ‘has already crossed a psychologically significant threshold’. The disclosure of such sensitive data could provoke citizens to protest, especially against the background of farmers' massive anti-government campaigns across the country," Naryshkin said.
After a conference on Ukraine in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron did not unequivocally rule out potential sending Western land troops to the zone of the special military operation in Ukraine. He also vowed that Western states would "do what is needed" to prevent Russia’s victory in this conflict.