French intelligence agent operated in Kiev prior to the war: Sputnik

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
6 Oct 2023 13:06
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A French military intelligence agent, Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Helly, was found to have visited mercenary hubs in Kiev in 2020.

Ukraine's national flag is displayed next to France's flag outside the French embassy in Beijing on March 3, 2022. (AFP)

A recent report by Sputnik discloses intel that Lieutenant-Colonel Arnaud Helly, a senior French military intelligence agent, was closely associated with foreign mercenaries in Ukraine in 2020, during the build-up to the war in Ukraine that erupted in 2022.

Documents acquired by Sputnik reveal that Helly rented an apartment in central Kiev for 59 nights between January and March 2020, indicating that France, a key NATO supporter and arms supplier of Ukraine in the war, had intelligence assets operating in Ukraine before the war broke out.

An official document from the French embassy in Kiev marks Helly's 'fin de séjour' (end of stay) on March 21, 2020, with signatures from Helly and the diplomatic mission's Defence Attaché, Andrée Evrard. Two additional invoices reveal that Helly continued to rent the same address for nearly two more months, until May 10, 2020.

The Golden Gate Inn

Helly's rented address was intriguingly situated within walking distance (800 meters) from the renowned Golden Gate Inn, which has been a hub of intelligence assets in Ukraine.

Warren Thornton, an independent journalist and former soldier who has had contact with ex-mercenaries, told Sputnik that the Inn was a sanctuary for journalists, spies, and go-betweens.

In a webcast, Thornton said that Helly “likes to frequent various restaurants that are known to be used by various contractors — now when we say contractors, that’s just a nice term for mercenary soldiers.”

Mystery Mission?

The exact nature of Lieutenant Colonel Helly's mission remains unclear, and his extended stay beyond the official end date raises questions about a potential undercover side quest in addition to his original mission.

However, his stay in Kiev comes at a time when NATO was ramping up arms supplies and military training to Ukraine in preparation for the war with Russia.

Roaming the Post-Soviet Space

Furthermore, Lieutenant Colonel Arnaud Halley's line of work suggests a seeming involvement in countering Russian influence.

After Ukraine, Helly was assigned to Armenia, the former Soviet republic in the Caucasus that the West has been trying to distance from Russia.

Helly was also formerly dispatched to Georgia, where protests supported by the US and pro-European Union threatened to overthrow the government due to its neutral stance on the conflict.

Helly had also previously visited the northern Russian city of St. Petersburg for a month from July to August 2018, ostensibly to improve his command of the Russian language.