During a segment on a French television news channel that recently surfaced on Twitter, French war reporter Georges Malbrunot claimed the United States is “in charge” of the Ukrainian military branch of the international volunteer military force known as the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, or the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.
Malbrunot cited his own personal experience accompanying French ex-military volunteers, who traveled to the war-torn country to ostensibly join the international military force made up of tens of thousands of volunteers from around the world, who are assumed to be serving at the direction of the Ukrainian armed forces.
The interview originally aired on CNews in France, and began surfacing on social media this week.
Translated into English, the reporter stated that “I accompanied French [Foreign Legion] volunteers. You know, there was an appeal at the beginning of President [Volodimir] Zelensky, who called for international volunteers with combat experience.”
Specifically, Malbrunot claimed to have traveled to Ukraine with three former french service members with military combat experience.
“I accompanied three Frenchmen, one of whom had been a soldier before, and two who had fought together in Rojava, against ISIS,” he said in French.
After noting that he had spent several days with the ex-military Frenchmen in Ukraine, he and the former soldiers discovered that Americans were “in charge” of operations in Ukraine, adding that in order to join the armed forces of Ukraine – ostensibly the Ukrainian Foreign Legion – they needed to go through the Americans, not the Ukrainians.
“I spent several days with them. I had the surprise, and so did they, to discover that to be able to enter the Ukrainian army, well, it’s the Americans who are in charge,” the reporter said.
French reporter returning from Ukraine "Americans are directly in charge of the war on the ground." pic.twitter.com/m5yr7far6N
— no one (@antiwar_soldier) April 11, 2022
Malbrunot detailed an experience where the group was almost arrested after being confronted by an American who told them “Here I am in charge. Not the Ukrainians, but me.”
“I’m talking of the training and enrollment of international volunteers into the Ukrainian army,” Malbrunot noted. “The guy even gave me his name, he is a veteran of the Iraq war. I did my verification, it’s a report that can be found in the Figaro magazine of this week. He took us for volunteers at the beginning, and I was extremely by the violence of the words of this American.”
Malbrunot said that when this American realized that he was a journalist, he asked them to leave, maintained that he was in charge, and asked them to take the microchips out of their cell phones.
“We will give you other chips,” the American reportedly told Malbrunot.
After removing the microchips from their phones, the group apparently signed a contract and was “contracted until the end of the war.”
“And who is in charge?” Malbrunot said. “It is the Americans. I saw it with my own eyes. It’s not the U.S. Army officially, of course, but nevertheless.”
An anchor on the television news station then asked the reporter, “There’s an American footprint?” Malbrunot replied affirmatively, and said “it’s quite significant.”
“We know that yesterday, they sent a hundred new weapons,” he explained. “Officially, they have done it, and they’re going to do it. They have been there, that’s the truth.”
“I had the impression, beyond the romantic aspect of this war, I thought I was with the international brigades, and I found myself facing the Pentagon,” he said.
Malbrunot has been covering the Ukraine-Russia conflict and has issued several tweets as of late March and early April 2022.
Translated into English, he tweeted on March 26 that “In Ukraine, we see everything that happens in the air, confides a French intelligence source. We have the American reflection. American planes, which are on NATO bases, arrive in capture and see everything” before to share their information.”
"En Ukraine, on voit tout ce qui se passe dans les airs, confie une source française du renseignement. On a le reflet américain. Les avions américains, qui sont sur les bases de l'OTAN, arrivent en captation et voient tout" avant de partager leurs renseignements. pic.twitter.com/svmjae2KVl
— Georges Malbrunot (@Malbrunot) March 26, 2022
On March 30, Malbrunot tweeted “‘The Americans give the Ukrainians in real time or almost their satellite observations and image information’, confides 1 French intelligence source. ‘To make the hits they make on the Russian columns, they must have instantaneous information or almost’.”
"Les Américains donnent aux Ukrainiens en temps réel ou presque leurs observations satellitaires et renseignements images", confie 1 source française du renseignement. "Pour faire les cartons qu'ils font sur les colonnes russes, ils doivent avoir le rens en instantané ou presque" pic.twitter.com/w4DZWBABof
— Georges Malbrunot (@Malbrunot) March 30, 2022
More recently on April, the war reporter tweeted “Ukraine: it is quite normal that the Americans are better than us in intelligence.”
He added, “‘They had been present since 2014 at the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, alongside British advisers. We had a smaller presence,’ says an expert.”
Ukraine: il est assez normal que les Américains soient meilleurs que nous en renseignements. "Ils étaient bien présents depuis 2014 au ministère de l'Intérieur ukrainien, aux côtés de conseillers britanniques. Nous, nous avions une présence plus réduite", confie un expert. pic.twitter.com/DGHx1zFnrK
— Georges Malbrunot (@Malbrunot) April 1, 2022
In response to the reporters claims that the U.S. is “in charge” of the Ukrainian international volunteer force, the Russians With Attitude podcast tweeted that the news was “Not surprising at all.”
The revelation has led some to point out that the conflict in Ukraine could be seen as a proxy war between NATO and Russia.
Two Russian podcasters known as Russians With Attitude have taken notice, and declared that “The US military has most likely been in charge of the Ukrainian General Staff for years & ‘Ukrainian military intelligence’ is a joke, it’s just NATO live feeds.”
Not surprising at all. The US military has most likely been in charge of the Ukrainian General Staff for years & "Ukrainian military intelligence" is a joke, it's just NATO live feeds. The only reason no one admits that Russia and NATO are in an open state of war is fear of nukes https://t.co/MTdxdvWLe4
— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) April 11, 2022
“The only reason no one admits that Russia and NATO are in an open state of war is fear of nukes.”
