Nicolas Cinquini

[
🇬🇧 it was with great pleasure that I have been involved in an investigation by Zvezda, the channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense,
🇷🇺 с большим удовольствием принял участие в расследовании канала Минобороны России “Звезда”,
🇫🇷 c’est avec grand plaisir que j’ai participé à une enquête de Zvezda, la chaîne du ministère russe de la défense]

How are “death travel agencies” organized for those who like to hunt people in foreign lands, and who want to send regular French and Polish units to Ukraine?

French military in Ukraine. Why did Paris’s statements about its official dispatch alarm the whole of Europe, but did not surprise Moscow? Is it true that career officers of the French army appeared in the Donbass even before the start of the Northern Military District?

A new investigation of the “Evidence from the Past” program about the presence in Ukraine of foreign “soldiers of fortune” and military personnel of the regular troops of NATO countries. How many mercenaries from which countries are currently fighting on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces? How is the recruitment of thugs around the world going through Ukrainian embassies?

Through a risky and visual experiment, we will show the secret mechanics of recruiting mercenaries in Western Europe. How are “death travel agencies” organized for those who like to hunt people in foreign lands, and who want to send regular French and Polish units to Ukraine? Watch the new episode from the series “Evidence from the Past”

Our world is holding many secrets, from ancient mysteries and inexplicable miracles to incredible turns in human history. One thing is certain: these events are leaving us with more questions than answers. It would seem that nothing can shed light on these mysterious incidents, but is this so? Armed with the latest discoveries in science, we will try to get to the bottom of the truth, and evidence from the past will help in the investigation. Nothing will remain unsolved, because after any crime there remains evidence. In our case, this is evidence from the past.

English mercenaries, Poles, miraculously, the French survived. There are plenty of soldiers of fortune from European countries in Ukraine from the very beginning. Europe needs to prepare its regular units to be sent to Ukraine. We are certainly approaching a point in Europe where it will be appropriate not to be a coward. I think our countries are well aware that war has returned to our soil.

When asked whether France itself would send its troops to Ukraine, the president gave an unequivocal answer. Representatives of Britain and Germany, Canada and the United States hastened to soften Macron’s belligerent statements. President Biden has made it incredibly clear that the United States is opposed to sending troops to Ukraine, and the NATO Secretary General has repeated that. Maybe he’s just trying to stop hiding the obvious fact of the presence of professional Western military personnel in Ukraine? German Chancellor Olaf Scholz added fuel to the fire when he casually blurted out that the British and French were helping to launch Storm Shadow missiles. The French, apparently, did not bypass Ukraine either.

Spring 2022: Russian units were liberating Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol. Militants of the Ukrainian National Battalions were holed up in concrete basements. Our intelligence service then more than once intercepted enemy communications which included French speech. When it became obvious that there were only a few days left before the capture of the metallurgical bastion, President Macron himself sounded the alarm. Like, let’s open a humanitarian corridor for the wounded. Representatives of the Elysee Palace began calling our Foreign Ministry directly to the Kremlin. And the real reason for the fuss of French politicians became clear only when the helicopters were shot down. And at the crash site near the village of Rybatskoye, these tokens and berets were found among the remains. The same ones can be seen on soldiers of the French Foreign Legion. So who was hiding at Azovstal? Career French soldiers dressed as mercenaries? And besides, who organized the death travel agency for foreign specialists? Let’s try to figure it all out.

Mercenaries or professional soldiers? Who is now joining the ranks of the Ukrainian foreign legion? How were more than 20 thousand foreigners lured to Ukraine to fight for the Kiev regime? And why did they run back en masse? I hit a mine and may lose my leg. How much were and are paid to the soldiers of fortune in Ukraine? Why do some mercenaries from Western countries leave their wives and children and go to Kyiv? How do Ukrainian diplomats recruit thugs through embassies? We will find out during the investigative experiment. Thank you for filling out the form to the International Legion of Ukraine. Why are Poles less and less welcome in Ukraine? Revelation of soldiers of fortune from Warsaw: we ourselves ate rotten meat and cereals. Why do Odessa beaches attract French strategists? The French are now actively working in Moldova. And this must also be understood.

January 2024: a high-precision strike in Kharkov destroyed the location of foreign mercenaries. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, as a result, about 60 Frenchmen who fought on the side of Ukraine were killed. But in that case there was no point in denying it, because French volunteers quickly published a list of foreigners killed in Kharkov. Some studied these names in their homeland with alarm, others with interest. Former French intelligence officer Nicolas Cinquini is bit by bit collecting information about his fellow countrymen who disappeared in Kharkov, Ukraine, since official Paris is silent about the tragedies of its citizens who became mercenaries. Especially for Evidence from the Past, Cinquini shared secret information about the French in Ukraine. To date, there are 63 French fighters on the list, some of whom have already left Ukraine. Ten or so were killed and at least three of them were permanently disabled due to severe wounds. 20% of irretrievable losses among the French is an excellent indicator for Russian troops. Cinquini obtained these figures through painstaking private investigation. However, he admits that his list of losses among the French military is far from complete.

The camera lenses repeatedly caught the patches of the French killed in Ukraine. These, for example, were found at the site of a helicopter crash that was trying to get some important people out of the Azovstal plant. What can these insignia tell about their owners? To find out, we will conduct an investigative examination. This is, accordingly, a Legionnaire’s field patch. The historian of the Museum of Military Uniforms identified them as signs of the French Foreign Legion. Foreigners are taken into this unit, promising them a residence permit in France. And they can even receive French citizenship five years after the end of the contract. According to the statute, the Legion is personally subordinate to the President of France. This is almost his personal army. Now there are about nine thousand soldiers. This patch is assigned to the third regiment of the foreign legion, which is stationed in French Guiana. If this is indeed a patch from a killed Frenchman, then it could be an officer who either coordinated the troops, or was, accordingly, well, in the capacity of such a military adviser. The sending of military personnel from the remaining colonies to Ukraine is not surprising. After all, almost 200 years ago, the French Foreign Legion was created by King Louis Philippe in order to use it not in Europe, but somewhere far away, in overseas territories. Until recently, the command of that unit was not very interested in the background of the recruits, so fugitives often joined it under false names.

Ukrainian recruiters also adopted this experience from the French. Ukraine also has its own international legion. Back in March 22, Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba said without hesitation that the Kiev regime was using mercenaries from 52 countries. Unless they tried to recruit penguins from Antarctica here. In total, at that time, about twenty thousand soldiers of fortune were among the participants in the international Ukrainian legion. By the spring of 2024, their ranks, however, are very cold. Here is a report from the Russian Ministry of Defense on foreign mercenaries killed in Ukraine. Almost one and a half thousand irretrievable Polish losses. Behind them are Georgian militants. In third place are US citizens. Not even one and a half hundred French mercenaries returned home. But how were they recruited? And for what money were they willing to give their lives? To understand this, let’s follow the path of one of the French mercenaries.

Maxime Bronchain, former chef. In July 22, he left his child and wife at home, and he went to work to the same International Legion of Ukraine. True, Maxim did not have time to get rich. Max, we are right with you, you will be evacuated. Soon after the start of his service, the soldier’s luck was very bad. He hit a mine. In this footage, he is being evacuated with a serious leg injury. I heard the call of President Zelensky and since I once served in the army and was a firefighter, I decided that I could be useful. But did the desire to help Zelensky really bring Bronchain to Ukraine? Weren’t there other motives? Thirst for fame, extreme sports, money? Or maybe hatred of Russia and Russians? To understand the Frenchman’s true reasons, during the investigation we carefully studied his biography. Who or what kept Bronchain in Ukraine, even after being seriously wounded? We’ll tell you a little later.

Why do some mercenaries from Western countries leave their wives and children and go to Kyiv? He longs for fame so that society will recognize him as a hero. How do Ukrainian diplomats recruit thugs through embassies? We will find out during the investigative experiment. Thank you for filling out the form to the International Region of Ukraine. How were more than 20 thousand foreigners lured to Ukraine to fight for the Kiev regime? And why did they run back en masse? I hit a mine and may lose my leg. How much were and are paid to the soldiers of fortune in Ukraine? Why do Odessa beaches attract French strategists? The French are now actively working in Moldova. And this must also be understood. Why are Poles less and less welcome in Ukraine? We ourselves ate rotten meat and cereals. Who is now joining the ranks of the Ukrainian foreign legion? We spoke with a career military man who served in the US Navy with a classified clearance.

Bronchain’s boss and fellow countryman Gaston Besson will definitely not return home. Once upon a time, this is how he lured everyone into the International Legion of Ukraine, the creator of which Besson is considered. A variety of people from Finland, Norway, England, France, Italy are coming to our International Legion. As much as we may look like crazy fanatics, we are actually here to gain combat experience. And Ukraine was not Besson’s first military experience. A former paratrooper and special forces soldier. Back in the 90s, he realized that on the battlefield you can not only risk your life, but also make good money. I went through three revolutions and two wars. Besson settled in Ukraine back in 2014, immediately after the coup in Kyiv. In 2014, he became one of the founders of Azov battalion. The second was Karel Cherel Salzburg, also French. In December 2022, a friend of Besson said that the recruiter had died. But how and when in France did it become more profitable to be a soldier of fortune than a career French officer? Who and why becomes a mercenary in Europe? He longs for fame so that society will recognize him as a hero. To understand the motivations of modern Western mercenaries, let’s look at important clues from the past: 60s of the 20th century.

The old colonial system is coming apart at the seams. Because of this, in the newly liberated young states, mini-Maidans and military coups occur every now and then, during which the places of the killed leaders of national liberation movements are taken by puppet dictators. Look, it’s like Che Guevara in reverse. Yes, if Che Guevara, appearing in the Congo or Bolivia, was a revolutionary who risked his life, the tyrants who eliminated Che Guevara, Patrice Lumumba or Salvador Allende, valued their lives and tried to get along with military advisers from Europe, who in fact, were mercenaries. They no longer had formal relations with the official armies of the colonial countries.

Take a look at the face of this good-natured man with blue eyes. At first glance, it may seem that he is an ordinary European pensioner. But in the circles of the military and intelligence services, this person will not be confused with anyone. This is the most famous French mercenary of the second half of the last century: Bob Denard. Congo, Nigeria, Angola, Gabon, Benin. That list can be continued for a long time. In Comoro Islands, by his own admission, Denard staged either two or three coups. And it was here that he began to build his republic of mercenaries. Yes, at first it was a small base, and already in 1989 the presidential guard of that state was subordinate to him. How did Denard manage to stage military coups for decades and still remain unscathed? While doing his dirty work, the legendary French soldier of fortune never hid his face, as if emphasizing that he was not afraid of either criminal prosecution at home or assassination attempts in overseas countries. Bob Denard, like all other mercenaries who do not hide their faces, unmasks, so to speak. Ambition, then, allows these people to make themselves simply famous. Because of Denard’s ostentatious fearlessness, many believed that very influential patrons were behind him. It seemed that he was specially made a hero, a kind of exemplary super-soldier and an example for young Frenchmen. But the 60s and 70s in the West became the era of hippies and pacifism. Many politicians liked their politics to be conducted with clean hands, so that someone did the dirty work for them, organized genocide of the population in some country, took away power, took away resources, and handed it all over on a silver platter. Instead of their own armies, leaders undesirable to the West were overthrown by private military companies, of which Denard became a pioneer. Such formations helped former empires maintain influence in their former colonies, while seemingly maintaining neutrality. But even the services provided by Bob Denard to Paris officials did not save him from criminal prosecution. He was captivated by various crimes, including attempts on political figures, in particular, the murder of one of the leaders of African states. Once in the dock, the fearless Denard eventually stopped pretending to be a gallant soldier of fortune and spoke up. It turned out that no matter where he fought, his actions were always coordinated with the official French authorities. I worked with the secret services, they were aware of everything that I did, because such things are not done without the consent of your country. So they have their own archives, but often I supplied them with certain information. Sometimes I was not hired by the French authorities, but paid by the states for which I worked. Since Denard’s time, cooperation between Western PMCs and official security forces has only become even closer.

Satellite communications, weapons, some kind of satellite portals which are providing target designations for drones and other types of technical support, equipment. All that, of course, is provided to the Main Directorate of Defense of Ukraine. Experts are claiming that even before the North Military District, Western PMCs and NGOs, under the leadership of NATO intelligence services, began recruiting mercenaries for Ukraine around the world. Those who most actively agreed to the adventure were nationalists, neo-Nazis and professional soldiers of fortune who killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.

Many people become hooked on Ukrainian Nazi propaganda from sources such as the Right Sector or the Misanthropic Division. Isn’t it for that reason that the Frenchman Maxime Bronchain, who was blown up by a mine, went to Ukraine? During the interview in the hospital, the patches on his uniform were caught in the frame. One of them depicts the so-called valknut, the sign of the Scandinavian pagans, popular among the nationalists of Western Europe, is no less than the so-called wolf hook of werewolves. Maxime Bronchain fought with typical patches. Also a diamond with the battalion number and, accordingly, he had a Right Sector badge on his backpack. It is possible that it was precisely because of Bronchain’s radical views that French officials were in no hurry to return him to his homeland, even when he began to openly ask for it ? I hit a mine and may lose my leg. It all depends on how long my repatriation will take. Bronchain’s leg really wasn’t saved. We’ll tell you. Very soon.

Apparently, professional military personnel from Western countries also received serious injuries in Ukraine. Former French intelligence officer Nicolas Cinquini has an explanation why Emmanuel Macron was so nervous and asked Moscow to open a humanitarian corridor for militant groups settled in Azovstal. In the days following the failure of Emmanuel Macron’s plan to remove French operatives from Mariupol, Ukrainian military intelligence attempted evacuation by helicopter. As far as I know, at least seven sorties were made and at least five helicopters were shot down. These repeated failures led to the dismissal of the French general who at the time, was heading France’s military intelligence agency. It is known from reliable sources that active military personnel, specialists in their field, are offered fictitious resignations by their superiors with a guarantee of subsequent reinstatement in service. During their retirement, military personnel are receiving a salary that is difficult to refuse. And these seemingly retired military personnel, while in Ukraine, are continuing to carry out orders from NATO headquarters. Roughly speaking, these are people not from a private company, these are former military people who were recruited by official structures. But this process is simply veiled. The scheme has become so transparent that real mercenaries themselves are already openly talking about professional Western security forces in Ukraine. I know that there were often CIA operatives or special forces here. They were trying to convey to certain members of the Ukrainian command structure a very good idea of what to do. This confession was made by a high-ranking Polish military officer during a risky investigative experiment carried out by Russian pranksters known under the pseudonyms Vovan and Lexus.

This is the largest PMC in Europe at the moment. It is known about this academy that the entire Azov battalion was trained there. Since 2014, all Azov members learned both coordination and combat operations from these very clearings. The Polish mercenary commander opened up, thinking that he was communicating with former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who judging by leaks from Kyiv, indeed, from the beginning of 2024, personally began inviting foreign officers to join the new PMC. I was surprised by the ending, how they joyfully swore allegiance to Petro Poroshenko and were even ready to go and stage a coup in Ukraine, overthrow Zelensky, so that the wonderful Poroshenko would become the new president, because he promised them mountains of everything. Cooperation with official recruiters from Kyiv in 2024 no longer attracts soldiers of fortune. According to the Polish mercenary with whom Lexus and Vovan spoke, foreigners in Ukraine were too often deceived. The amounts that are needed are not paid, and there is no security which is prescribed there. Of course, all mercenaries are complaining a lot about Ukrainians. Weapons are often hidden and lost. I’ve met officers selling new weapons. Foreigners who have visited Ukraine believe that even from the deaths of mercenaries, Ukrainian partners manage to make money. And they are rather treated as consumables, which is why they hate their Ukrainian commanders. The commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are directly interested in the quick death of foreigners, since the contract concluded with the mercenaries stipulates that in the event of his death, compensation to the family is not guaranteed.

Although overall the agreement looks quite solid, the whole process is taking place officially. In Ukraine, the recruitment method is extremely simple. The Americans and Australians with whom we communicated, as a rule, they all did this through embassies. The Ukrainian embassies, which had already directly contacted the Ministry of Defense, assigned them a person who met them directly at the border. Is this system of recruitment through embassies well established? Let’s check it out during another investigative experiment. French military pensioner Nicolas Cinquini will help implement it. On the website of the Ukrainian embassy, he filled out a form to join the International Legion. We will tell you very soon how quickly and what exactly the Ukrainians will respond.

Until recently, Ukrainian Internet resources lured volunteers in many countries with videos like this. The mercenaries were promised not only allowances, but also comfortable barracks, and in the evenings a song by the fire in warm company. This brave warrior from the Bolivar battalion is confident that he will return home a winner. True, he fights not with a machine gun in his hands, but with a smartphone. In fact in Ukraine, mercenaries from other countries sometimes have to fight with Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers. I instructed people, and we were treated like animals. Here you see how the Ukrainian authorities are treating those who help them. How Colombians are treated. They came in wearing balaclavas and beat our guys. Actually, there are not enough so-called volunteers in Ukraine.

This is Krzysztof, the only Pole who was at Azovstal when our troops surrounded the territory of the plant. His shocking revelations scared off many potential mercenaries. We ourselves ate rotten meat and cereals. This entire foreign legion, of course, was destroyed in the first year, most of it. And then many left, disappointed. The shortage of personnel in the Armed Forces of Ukraine is acute.

During the experiment, pranksters Vovan and Lexus found out that, for example, the American military, although unofficially, has been in Ukraine for a long time. We spoke with a career military man who served in the US Navy with a classified clearance. But American military personnel disguised as mercenaries are an expensive commodity. And Kyiv cannot afford it in large quantities. Prices on the mercenary market have been steadily falling since February 2022. If at the beginning of the Special Operation, the Ukrainian authorities were ready to pay up to 5,000 euros per month to every foreigner who wanted to fight, then two years later the average salary is fluctuating no more than three thousand euros. The cheapest personnel, of course, are from Latin American countries. Here you can find soldiers of fortune for two thousand dollars. At the same time, not everyone receives this money either. And if a mercenary dies, it is almost impossible to obtain compensation from Ukrainian or international recruiters.

So why do people agree to go to certain death for next to nothing? Why do some mercenaries from Western countries leave their wives and children and go to Kyiv? How do Ukrainian diplomats recruit thugs through embassies? We will find out during the investigative experiment. Thank you for filling out the form to the International Legion of Ukraine. Why do Odessa beaches attract French strategists? And what is the chance that the history of the French on the Black Sea will repeat itself a hundred years later?

During the investigation, we received this copy of an email from a Mexican citizen. He wrote to the Russian authorities about the recruitment in Latin America for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. We cannot disclose the author’s personal information for security reasons. Both units do not guarantee the return of the bodies of killed mercenaries to their homeland or payments to their families. This same Mexican found that many of his fellow countrymen who went to Ukraine were connected with drug cartels in their homeland and were recruited, most likely, simply to escape prison. If we talk about the Mexican drug cartels, then these organizations are tightly tied to the Central Intelligence Agency. From that, we can draw a very simple conclusion that some militants from these drug cartels, on the instructions of the CIA or other American intelligence services, may well be transferred to various locations of military conflicts. While remaining free, Mexican drug traffickers can simultaneously develop new markets for selling datura. Perhaps this motive forces them to go to Ukraine even more than the mercy of a mercenary or a CIA agent.

But what made the now legless French soldier of fortune Maxime Brochain return to Ukraine? The fact is that he was not a member of the French Foreign Legion, and for mercenarism in the Fifth Republic, one can give a real sentence of up to five years, plus a fine of 75 thousand euros. Maxime Brochain, this Frenchman, certainly did not find support for social payments after he was maimed in Ukraine, for the simple reason that, by and large, all these countries will disown their dead or wounded soldiers. In Ukraine, he married again. And he clearly doesn’t want to help his first wife, who is left in France, alone with the child. The Kyiv regime has little hope left for rabble like Bronchain or for the fed-up units in the armed forces.

But even if emboldened President Macron dares to send regular French troops to Ukraine, will that be able to seriously affect the course of the Northern Military District? That is, from two to four and a half, five thousand people at best. Such a contingent, of course, will not be able to significantly influence the course of the Northern Military District. And even Macron is not convinced to send more soldiers to Ukraine. French society remembers too well how the French military presence on the historical lands of Russia ended. Novorossia, that is the Black Sea, south of our country, including Crimea and Odessa, was considered theirs in Paris. Then a French contingent of 15 thousand people landed in Odessa. But in fact, the French got along poorly with Denikin’s White Guards. Numerous disagreements ultimately contributed to the victory of the Bolsheviks, who also freed Ukraine from dictator Semyon Petliura. The French fled from Odessa in the spring of 1919. Perhaps history really doesn’t teach us anything. And why is Odessa so important to them? Odessa has really been exciting the minds of French politicians for a long time. It’s not about the beaches of the Black Sea, but about the trade routes which are going through the city. Look, with the Black Sea cities, the French want to control grain. They want to somehow participate in the grain deal, because they have a certain friction in the middle of the Earth with Turkey. And this must also be taken into account. What Odessa has in quality, Macron did not name the possible landing site for the French by chance. Paris’s activity in neighboring Moldova also proves it. The French are now actively working in Moldova. And this must also be understood. They landed troops there in quotation marks in order to somehow influence Maia Sandu. And that region, Moldova, is not adjacent to Odessa, but very close to the Black Sea. Therefore, the French will try to be there.

To understand this, let’s see how our investigative experiment ended with an attempt to recruit a French citizen through the Ukrainian embassy in Paris. It would seem that a retired career military man is a godsend for Kyiv. But Monsieur Nicolas had to wait more than two weeks for an answer. And judging by the message in Ukraine, the French are not so welcome. Thank you for filling out the form to the International Region of Ukraine. We will compile all the data and transmit it to the recruiting officer. Essentially, this is an unsubscribe. A polite Ukrainian official named Kormin informs that he has handed over the documents of a potential volunteer to the right person, and asks to continue to wait for an answer. But he was not there a week or two later. Thus, it turns out that the interest of the Ukrainian authorities in French mercenaries is not so great now. It is difficult to imagine that all that recruitment could have taken place without the participation of the secret services of NATO countries, but the secret services are secret for that reason, their involvement is difficult to prove. Did NATO really understand that relying on mercenaries didn’t work? Or did the military in Ukraine begin to tinker with wayward foreigners who do not want to die silently in ridiculous and murderous attacks? However, even without taking into account Kyiv’s policies, Paris officials have their own motives for openly sending at least some of their soldiers to Ukraine. The desire of French politicians to wave their fists seems to have several reasons. First. Prove your leadership in the European Union. In the absence of a powerful German economy and advanced German technology, Paris is showing its willingness to take political risks. And finally, the third thing is the thirst for historical revenge. After all, the French had to flee Russia not only in 1919, but also in 1812. And here’s the funny thing. Macron’s harsh statements strangely come exactly 210 years after the fall of the French capital. You had the program “Evidence from the Past”. See you in a week [end]

The documentary

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