There Russia has issued a clear warning to the instructors foreigners of Ukrainian armed forces, the same ones who are helping Kiev to contain the offensive of the Russian army. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, declared during a press conference that, regardless of their country of origin and provenance, these trainers are not immune to attacks against them. In other words, Moscow considers anyone who supports Ukraine’s war operations on the ground as a potential target to be neutralized. In recent days, Vladimir Putin himself had commented on some documents regarding the presence of French instructors in Ukrainian training centers. “The (Western) specialists are in Ukraine under the guise of mercenaries”, declared the Russian president, hypothesizing that it was the same soldiers who were using Kiev’s weapons against the Russian Federation.
Moscow’s warning
No immunity or mercy for Western instructors: this is the message sent by Moscow to Europe and the United States. “The fact is that all instructors involved in training the Ukrainian regime’s military have no immunity to attacks against them. It doesn’t matter if they are French or not“Peskov said, explaining that Russia is carrying out the operation in Ukraine.”in accordance with the goals and objectives formulated by the Supreme Commander-in-Chief“.
As reported by Le Monde, Emmanuel Macron would specifically like to form a European coalition of trainers soldiers to be sent to Ukraine. In any case, nothing has yet been defined: it could be a matter of weeks, or even days, before French (and not only) specialists are sent to Ukrainian territory. Consultations on the topic will accelerate in the coming days, in view of a possible announcement during the visit of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky in France to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, on 6 and 7 June. Macron could therefore reveal the general lines of the initiative three and a half months after saying that he would not rule out sending Western military reinforcements to Ukraine (26 February).
“The arrangements are very advanced and we could expect something next week“, an anonymous source told Reuters. What is certain is that Paris’ move has already provoked a (verbal) reaction from the Kremlin. Moscow has made it clear that the instructors, or whoever they are, will be compared to Ukrainian soldiers. And therefore enemies to eliminate.
Macron’s plan
France has previously trained thousands of Ukrainian troops, but on EU territory, while Putin has repeatedly hinted that the presence of regular French troops in Ukraine would be a step towards a global conflict.
The training proposed by Paris would mainly cover mine clearance, operational maintenance of equipment and technical proficiency on Western warplanes. It seems that last Monday the commander-in-chief of Ukraine signed the necessary documentation so that French instructors could soon begin visiting training centers in Kiev.
Meanwhile, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkovdrew a clear red line: “I would like to warn American people against miscalculations that could have fatal consequences.
For some unknown reason, they underestimate the severity of the backlash they might receive“. Raybkov’s words refer specifically to the US green light for Kiev to use US weapons to strike targets on Russian territory.
