Three days after French President Emmanuel Macron said sending troops to Ukraine should not be "ruled out," allies were still strongly divided on this sensitive subject. Following the backlash to his comments, Macron stressed on Thursday, February 29, that his words had been "weighed" and "measured." The fact that he made sure on Monday to specify that the discussions only concerned the sending of troops "in an official, considered and approved manner," also implicitly lifted the veil on the existing presence of some Western personnel on Ukrainian soil.
Since the outbreak of the invasion of Ukraine, numerous state actors associated with Western intelligence services, often with military status, have been present in the country. Undercover diplomatic personnel, advisers for Ukraine, and members of special forces have inherently played a role since the start of the war. "The actions of these services are by their very nature clandestine, and therefore outside the law of war," said Vincent Crouzet, a former employee of the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), who is now a writer and consultant.
The controversy ignited by Macron at the start of the week has opened up the debate on what some consider to be an open secret. "All the allied states have a presence in Ukraine. It's not a question of combat units, but there are representatives of each intelligence service, for example," said a Ukrainian diplomatic source, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. They said they were pleased that the question of strengthening the allied military presence in their country has been "in the air" since December. "If there are arms deliveries, there must be people there physically giving information on how to use the equipment," they added. "Ukraine is also being used as a testing ground for new equipment. Drones are tested there. These kinds of professionals are on the ground, of course."
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The British have been among the most transparent about their presence since Macron's statements. "Beyond the small number of personnel we do have in the country supporting the armed forces of Ukraine, we haven't got any plans for large-scale deployment," a spokesperson for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told reporters on Monday.
At the end of 2022, a former commanding general of the Royal Marines, Robert Magowan, had already admitted in an interview with the official Royal Marine journal Globe and Laurel that 350 British soldiers had been present in Ukraine between January and April 2022, for special operations involving "a high degree of political and military risk." His words have never been denied by London and are in line with the long-standing presence of numerous British instructors within Ukrainian military staff due to cooperation initiated as early as 2014 and after the unilateral annexation of Crimea by Russia.
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