Randahl Fink

Warning: Likely disinformation.

France is in the process of deploying its first 1,500 combat soldiers to Ukraine, writes Stephen Bryan for Asian Times.

Caution: I have not seen any official confirmation of this development, and no other media has this story. But it is consistent with earlier reports of the preparation of French soldiers, and Macron’s latest statements about “not ruling out” the use of French troops in Ukraine.

https://asiatimes.com/2024/05/france-sends-combat-troops-to-ukraine-battlefront/

France sends combat troops to Ukraine battlefront

France has sent its first troops officially to Ukraine. They have been deployed in support of the Ukrainian 54th Independent Mechanized Brigade in

Asia Times
May 5, 2024 at 7:07pmIvory for iOS
Show threadRandahl FinkMay 5, 2024

Update: I have now found several sources which state, Asia Times nowadays publish unedited, speculative, or contradictory stories, some even Russia leaning.

Also, it has been 24 hours since publication, and at this point this story would be all over the news, if it could be confirmed.

Likely not true.

@[email protected] @anderspuck

Show threadRandahl FinkMay 5, 2024

Update 2: Now conspiracy nutcase Alex Jones is running with this story, as are several anonymous accounts — a real red flag.

Very likely a false story.

Show threadRalph058 (S/he/it) AF4EZMay 5, 2024
@randahl Like Trump, if Alex Jones is saying it, the safest assumption is that it is false.
Show threadRandahl FinkMay 5, 2024
@Ralph058 I wonder what the purpose is. This story is being pushed hard.
Show threadRalph058 (S/he/it) AF4EZMay 5, 2024
@randahl Jones is pro-Russian. I'm sure Russia is going to use it as an excuse to attack and kill "French Foreign Legion" soldiers with Slovic ancestry.
Putin keeps saying that France is going to send thousands of troops.
Macron refuses to rule out sending them.
I am not entirely sure that Macron isn't trolling Putin, but Macron says a Russian victory is a threat to peace in Europe. (Which, of course, it is)
Show threadGJ Groothedde 🇪🇺May 5, 2024
@randahl I'll bet you 99 to one it's false.
Show threadAsbjornnMay 6, 2024
@randahl I love your approach to spredning news. First a warning and then 2 later updates. Thanks.
May this become the new standard for all.
Show threadRandahl FinkMay 6, 2024
@asbjornn ir is absolutely crucial to be cautious in this information environment. It is a minefield of fake news out there.
Show threadCurtAdamsMay 5, 2024

@randahl @harriettmb @anderspuck So, laundering a fake story about direct French involvement in Ukraine? So far, typical laundering process of blatant propaganda -> non-journalistic "news" source. Continuing on to lazy MSM next, like with COVID disinfo?

All that said, the world would be a better place if France actually *did* intervene in Ukraine, just like if they'd intervened in Czechoslovakia in 1938.

Show threadGahmiafMay 6, 2024

@CurtAdams @randahl @[email protected] @anderspuck

Could it in the end be France pushing this story to support Macron's ambiguity (ed.) strategy?

(Not sure if the background of the sources supports this hypothesis.)

Show threadBill Of Earth42May 5, 2024
@randahl I'm hoping that France will also send its air force over to protect the troops.
Show threadRandahl FinkMay 5, 2024
@billOfEarth42 and its nuclear submarines.
Show threadJeffreySmith 🌻🍉🇨🇦May 5, 2024

@randahl

These French soldiers can be responsibly deployed if they serve in rear echelon support roles, freeing up Ukrainians for bolstering their sagging defense. Also, just think how Chancellor Scholz will feel, when he is too cautious to provide a cruise missile like the Taurus, when the brave French serve in civilian protection roles in Ukraine. Macron had called Putin's bluff. #SlavaUkraini #VivaFrance

Show thread19winston84 🇪🇺🍋#FCKNZSMay 5, 2024
@randahl just wait until you see the article being amplified by Russian bots and you know it is a standard disinformation campaign.
Show threadHenrik B. AndersenMay 5, 2024
@randahl hmm, when the first source is an Asien media, it is often a fake news that benefits Russia. Thats is my experience so I am in doubt. Especially just as XI is in Paris…
Show threadTaran RampersadMay 5, 2024
@randahl I'm skeptical. But the Foreign Legion could be getting bored.
Show threadJosé M. Arnesto 🌻May 5, 2024

@randahl Look at the end of the Asia Times "article":
"This article was first published on his Weapons and Strategy Substack and is republished with permission."

If you have a look at his substack, it is full of ridiculous claims: https://substack.com/@stephenbryen

And Sputnik is now also spreading this story too, so it is a typical case of Russian disinformation

Stephen Bryen | Substack

Stephen Bryen is a former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense and is a leading expert in security strategy and technology. Bryen writes for Asia Times, American Thinker, Epoch Times, Newsweek, Washington Times, the Jewish Policy Center and others.

Show threadMarie DocetMay 6, 2024

@randahl Apparently the military unit named in this fantasy tale (3rd regiment of infantry) is, in the real world we all live in, specialised in fighting in equatorial forest environment and is indeed permanently stationed in French Guyane, 10 000 km away and an ocean apart from Donbass.

I fail to see why infantrymen specialists of the amazonian surroundings would be chosen to act in artillery fights in Eastern-Europe's vast and bare plains.

https://www.msn.com/fr-fr/actualite/monde/la-france-a-t-elle-envoy%C3%A9-des-soldats-de-la-l%C3%A9gion-%C3%A9trang%C3%A8re-en-ukraine/ar-BB1lUmhX

MSN