French military intelligence chief sacked over Ukraine assessment
2 Min Read
General Eric Vidaud has been fired over what French leaders call an inadequacy of his services regarding the war in Ukraine.
-
French military intelligence chief Eric Vidaud
General Eric Vidaud, the head of French military intelligence, will resign, owing to what was deemed an insufficiency of his services in the war in Ukraine, according to what AFP gathered from military sources familiar with the situation.
According to French newspaper l'Opinion, a military insider confirmed the imminent resignation of the director of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM). The latter cites an inside source at the Ministry of the Armed Forces who speaks of "insufficient briefings" and a "lack of mastery of subjects."
According to a military source reached by AFP, the DRM has been on the radar of the militaries' general staff since Russia began its military operation in Ukraine. The DRM, on the other hand, "does military intelligence on operations, not on intentionality," explained the source.
Another military source who spoke on condition of anonymity said Vidaud had been the subject of rumors within the army and talks of him being given another position.
The General was appointed to the position last summer. At the beginning of March after the war began, General Thierry Burkhard, Chief of the Defense Staff, alluded in the daily Le Monde to discrepancies in analysis between the French and Americans on the issue of a future "invasion" of Ukraine.
"Our services rather thought that the conquest of Ukraine would have a monstrous cost and that the Russians had other options."
Alexandre Papaemmanuel, professor at the Institute of Political Studies (IEP) in Paris and specialist in intelligence, told AFP that France is "saying internally, within the community and to the rest of the world, that it has been failing," adding that the DRM suffers from a lack of resources, a reputation issue, as well as the divisions in which services are organized.
