An image is being circulated on the internet to claim that France has recently deployed troops to Ukraine as the conflict between the latter and Russia continue.
Who all shared it?: Along with social media users, media organisations such as Times of India and Hindustan Times have shared video reports on France sending troops to Ukraine. They have credited the information to one article published in Asia Times.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: TOI/Screenshot)
The same claim has been shared by multiple users on Facebook and X. You can view archives of such posts here, here, and here.
What is the truth?: There is no evidence to prove that France has recently sent troops to Ukraine. Moreover, the official X handle of French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs dismissed the viral claim and termed it as "fake news."
Recent changes in the original article: We searched for the article in Asia Times and found that it was recently updated to mention that a link which originally indicated a source for this report has went missing.
It provided an additional report in an online portal named 'Pravda' that said "mercenaries from France are already at Chasov Yar."
The article in Asia Times was written by a person named Stephen Bryen.
French Ministry denied the claim: French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs' official X handle dismissed the viral claim and said that the country has not send its troops to Ukraine.
The post was shared on 6 May and also carried a screenshot of the article of Asia Times.
What did the author say?: In a recent article on his Substack platform, Byren provides his rationale behind publishing the report. Towards the end, he said that he could be "wrong" and that he hopes he is.
While there are news reports about French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirming possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, there is no evidence to prove that the troops have already been deployed.
Conclusion: It is clear that there is no evidence to prove that France has recently deployed troops to Ukraine.
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