French troops are undergoing intense military training as they gear up for a possible deployment to Ukraine.
The country’s military is steeping up its battle readiness after the French President hinted he was prepared to send his army to Kyiv’s aid.
In bombshell comments at the end of February, Emmanuel Macron said he was ruling nothing out, including putting French boots on the ground in Ukraine.
For five gruelling days, up to two hundred soldiers from the 92nd Infantry Regiment have been preparing for urban warfare on a specially constructed 6,000 hectare site in Sissonne, in the Aisne region.
Here the French military has built replica towns and villages, where its troops can hone their skills.
Lieutenant Valentin, the combat section leader, told France Info that his unit were paying close attention to events in Ukraine, as they prepare to be deployed to Romania, a neighbour of Ukraine.
“We’re certainly keeping a close eye on what’s happening there,” he explained.
“We can see that the fighting is actually taking place in the cities, so we’ve been training to work in urban areas for a while now.”
Colonel Stéphane Talleu, the regiment’s commander, said his soldiers were preparing for a “high intensity scenario”.
“Instead of facing an asymmetrical enemy, i.e. one with limited resources, we’re dealing with a more conventional enemy with resources that are closer to our own,” he explained.
“This is exactly what we are seeing today in Ukraine.”
French officials have tried to row back on Macron’s comments, which were criticised by many of his fellow leaders.
Pierre Schill, Chief of Staff of the French Army, said he did not believe the French President meant “going into battle in the original sense of the term, on the front line.”
Glen Grant, a former Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army, outlined to Express.co.uk what he believed to be Macron’s red lines over direct intervention in Ukraine.
“I think what Macron is saying is that he will not accept Odesa being overrun. That’s his red line in the sand because if Odesa is overrun, then 20 percent of Ukraine’s GDP disappears down the tubes,” he said.
“At that point, Ukraine is really in deep trouble financially. It’s also in deep trouble because it just loses its whole shape and it becomes an internal island, as opposed to having a route out to the sea.”
