Slowly but surely, deeply unpopular French President Emmanuel Macron is leading his dysfunctional republic toward war with Russia.
What is now certain is that during the 80th anniversary celebrations of D-Day, he will take the opportunity to announce that he will send French “military instructors” to train Ukrainian troops near the front lines.
As one would expect, the Russians issued clear threats against any French soldiers or instructors in Ukraine.
Political coverage:
According to French news agency AFP, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media that “no instructors involved in training Ukrainian troops have immunity.” Peskov added, “It doesn’t matter whether they are French or not.”
Macron will meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and is widely expected to announce the formation of a small coalition of countries willing to send trainers to Ukraine.
“Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that there were already ‘experts’ [in Ukraine] Under the guise of mercenaries. Meanwhile, state news agency TASS quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova as saying that Moscow “has confirmed reports that France is preparing to send troops to Ukraine,” citing the trainers.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also stated that French military instructors operating in Ukraine are “legitimate targets” of Russia.
Business Insider reports:
“Whether they are French army soldiers or mercenaries, they are absolutely legitimate targets of the Russian armed forces,” he told reporters, according to an official note from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“I have reason to believe they are already active in Ukraine,” he said, without giving specific details.
The prospect of sending troops to Ukraine is gaining traction among NATO members such as the Baltic states and Poland.
The New York Times reported last month that “Ukrainian leaders have asked the United States and other NATO allies to help train 150,000 new troops closer to the front lines so they can deploy more quickly.”
This is a significant bottleneck for the Ukrainian military, as they are not only unable to conscript enough citizens into the army, but are also unable to properly train them before sending them to the front lines.
As a result, Ukrainian field commanders have been preparing for an influx of these highly trained recruits.
Sputnik reports:
“Commanders complained that they used to spend weeks teaching new recruits basic skills, such as how to shoot, because most of them were not well trained.
“Some of us don’t even know how to take a rifle apart and put it back together,” [said] Assistant Battalion Commander whose call sign is Schmidt.
Commanders must waste a lot of time on the front lines basic Training of conscripts.
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