Did France provide false information to America that was passed on to Russia ?
Executive summary
There is no verifiable evidence in the reporting provided that France supplied false information to the United States which was then relayed to Russia; the allegation originates with a claim by a former French intelligence operative about Ukrainian conduct and has been contradicted or clarified by multiple sources, including fact-checks and statements from Ukrainian intelligence (GUR) rejecting the story [1] [2] [3] [4]. Separately, President Macron has publicly said France now supplies the bulk of intelligence to Ukraine — a shift that has produced heightened scrutiny of intelligence-sharing practices but is distinct from the specific allegation that France fed falsified data to U.S. partners and onward to Moscow [5] [6].
1. The origin of the claim: a former DGSE operative’s on-air remarks
The narrative that false strategic information flowed from France to the United States and then to Russia traces back to remarks by Vincent Crouzet, a former DGSE operative, who in an interview suggested Ukrainian intelligence had concerns about leaks to Moscow and discussed a sting aimed at detecting leaks — a formulation that multiple outlets reported and that quickly circulated online [1] [2].
2. How the story was amplified and reinterpreted on social media and clips
Short clips and social posts repackaged the LCI segment into a simpler, more explosive claim — that Ukrainian services “sent false strategic info to U.S. intelligence” which “was relayed to Russia and used by Russian forces” — a framing that fact-checkers found misrepresentative of the original broadcast and which amplified the allegation beyond what was actually reported [4] [2].
3. Clarifications, retractions and Ukrainian pushback
Ukrainian military intelligence (GUR) and fact-check outlets pushed back, saying the published interpretation had “no objective basis” and was distorted by pro-Kremlin actors, while Crouzet himself later clarified that he had said Ukrainians “suspected risks of leakage” rather than asserting a proven chain in which false French-origin intelligence reached Russia [3] [2].
4. Macron’s “two-thirds” claim: important context, not proof of wrongdoing
Emmanuel Macron’s statement that France now provides roughly two-thirds of the intelligence support to Ukraine has reshaped the public debate about who supplies what to Kyiv and increased scrutiny of Allied sharing arrangements, but Macron’s assertion — reported widely — does not equate to evidence that France provided falsified intelligence to the U.S. that then reached Russia [5] [6].
5. Why the allegation gained traction: leaks, politicisation and intelligence pauses
The claim resonated because it fit an existing pattern of concern: the U.S. temporarily paused intelligence sharing with Ukraine in 2025 amid political leverage disputes, unauthorized leaks of classified materials have damaged trust previously, and several European services have become more cautious about sharing with the U.S., all of which create fertile ground for suspicion and viral stories [5] [7].
6. What the available reporting does — and does not — prove
The sourced reporting documents: (a) an on-air claim and subsequent social-media amplification [1] [4], (b) clarifications and denials from parties including Crouzet and GUR [2] [3], and (c) a broader context of shifting intelligence roles between the U.S. and France [5] [6]. None of the cited pieces supplies independently verified evidence that France deliberately provided false information to the United States which was then transferred to Russia; where the reporting cites suspicions, it also notes the lack of corroboration [2] [4].
7. Alternative readings and possible incentives behind the story
Alternative explanations include a misreading or mistranslation of an LCI segment, opportunistic amplification by actors seeking to discredit Western support for Ukraine, and genuine Ukrainian concerns about leak risk that were reported imprecisely; Russian disinformation mechanisms have motive to inflate such stories, while political rivals of U.S. policy could also benefit from claims of unreliability [2] [3] [7].
8. Bottom line for readers following the allegation
Based on the supplied reporting, the claim that France provided false information to the United States that was then passed to Russia is unproven and disputed: the allegation hinges on a contested media segment and second‑hand assertions, has been challenged by Ukrainian authorities and fact-checkers, and lacks independent corroboration in open sources [1] [2] [3] [4].