French Military Documents Russia’s Military Superiority

The French sovereignist weekly Marianne reveals in its last issue the content of several secret defense reports addressed to President Macron on the situation in Ukraine, which showed the total superiority of Russia on the front lines. They also point, indirectly, to the non feasibility of the proposals on NATO troops made since then by the French President.

The first report, written last fall, speaks clearly of the “failure of the Ukrainian offensive”, calling the planning organized by Kyiv and the Western chiefs of staff “disastrous”. In particular, the latter did not take into account the “moral force of the enemy in defense: that is to say, the will of Russian soldiers to hang on to territory”. It warns that Western pursuit of more fighting would be “the most serious error of analysis and judgment.”

As for sending French troops to Ukraine, one senior officer found it “unreasonable”: “Make no mistake, up against the Russians, we are an army of cheerleaders!”

The second report, outlining the prospects for 2024, says that Kiev needs 35,000 men per month, but is “recruiting less than half” that, while Russia enlists 30,000 volunteers a month. Meanwhile, the 2023 offensive “tactically destroyed” half of Kiev’s 12 combat brigades. “The West can provide 3D printers to manufacture drones or loitering munitions, but will never be able to print men.”

The third and most recent report, which had the French observers “in cold sweat”, described the battle of Avdeyevka as a “rout” of Ukrainian forces. It described how Russia created “hell” for the Ukrainian troops by using massive glide bombs to inflict more than 1,000 casualties per day, and calls the Ukrainian retreat on Feb. 17 “sudden and unprepared”.