What's behind the fake about sending 100 soldiers from France to Ukraine and who benefits from such "stuffing": explanation

A fake news story has been spread online claiming that France has deployed the first 100 members of the Foreign Legion in Sloviansk. Such "stuffing" is only beneficial for Russia to once again shell civilian infrastructure and kill civilians.

This was reported by the Crimean Wind monitoring group. "The Asia Times news from Stephen Bryan that France has deployed the first 100 people of the Foreign Legion in Sloviansk is a blatant fake," the statement says.

It is noteworthy that this news was spread not only by Russian dumps like RT but also by some major Ukrainian media.

However, the article by Stephen Bryan in the Hong Kong edition of the Asia Times about the first 100 militaries in Ukraine out of 1500 is based on a statement made by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on April 3, as well as on a "throw-in" by the propaganda channel Military Chronicle on April 12, which was carried by the Kremlin media, and they themselves wrote that there was no confirmation of this data.

At the same time, Stephen Bryan himself is a well-known conspiracy theorist.

"He is the author of ferocious fakes, such as 'The United States is trying to establish control over Budanov in order to move the capital from Kyiv to Lviv. Or this: "NATO sees Moldova as a springboard for an offensive against Crimea. He's one of that bunch of subdued Western "insiders" on the Kremlin's payroll. And this Stephen Bryan, based on Zakharova's statement and Z-channels about sending 100 French troops, is talking about how bad it is because it could provoke a war between Europe and Russia," the monitoring group explained.

It is noted that this fake is being spread to influence three audiences:

• French – to create public opinion against sending troops amid recent statements by President Emmanuel Macron.
• For the Asian audience, since the article was published in the Asia Times, it is the same message on the eve of Macron's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
• For the Russian media, it was a way to attack the hospital in Sloviansk once again and then claim that 100 French mercenaries were allegedly "eliminated" there.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the day before, Macron once again spoke about the possibility of sending his troops to the territory of Ukraine. According to him, no action can be ruled out given that the aggressor country, Russia, does not set any limits.

Macron also expressed the opinion that the security of Europe is impossible without ensuring the stability of Ukraine. According to him, the war waged by Russia against our country is the main threat to the continent.

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