How a French company is supporting Russia's war effort in Ukraine (INVESTIGATION)

Tools, cigarettes and clothes sold by French retailer Auchan supply Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian front, sometimes with the complicity of its Russian subsidiary. Le Monde got access to internal emails and eyewitness accounts in Auchan's Russian branch and verified photos and videos published on social media. #VideoInvestigation “A huge thank you to schoolchildren in Samara. The donations that you collected for us have reached us.“ The man addressing the camera, in late December 2022, is a soldier of the “Donetsk People's Republic,“ affiliated with the Russian army. Dressed in camouflage, he stands in front of a destroyed building in Donetsk, only 20 kilometers from the front line. Around him, dozens of boxes, sleeping bags, camouflage netting – and packaging from Auchan and Leroy Merlin, two brands owned by France’s Mulliez Group. Our investigation, along with Christo Grozev, former Executive Director at Bellingcat, and Russian investigative website The Insider, shows how goods sold by two companies belonging to the Mulliez Group – Auchan and Leroy Merlin – supply Russian armed forces on the Ukrainian front. In the case of Auchan, Le Monde's investigation reveals how the company's northern division itself organized the collection of Auchan products in Saint Petersburg for several tens of thousands of euros, just one month after the war began.