US intelligence services warned early on that Putin might invade Ukraine. In Europe, services assessed the situation differently. This now has consequences for the head of the French military intelligence service.
The head of the French military intelligence service, General Éric Vidaud, is resigning from his post. This is reported by several French media, including the newspaper “L’Opinion”. Vidaud is reportedly anticipating his release with the move.
He is therefore accused of an incorrect analysis of the situation in the run-up to the Ukraine war. Military sources cite “insufficient briefings” and “lack of control over the issues” as reasons, but also a restructuring of the agency. Vidaud was only seven months in office.
The chief of staff of the French armed forces, Thierry Burkhard, has already publicly admitted that the French intelligence services, unlike the Americans, had misinterpreted the Russian threat in Ukraine. “The Americans said the Russians would attack and they were right,” he told Le Monde. French intelligence services assumed that trying to conquer Ukraine would incur “monstrous” costs and that the Russians had “other options” to overthrow President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
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