Fact Check: Did Ukraine run 'sting operation' providing false info to US that was leaked to Russia?

WASHINGTON, DC: On January 15, French President Emmanuel Macron said France was now providing two-thirds of Ukraine's intelligence. He also praised Europe’s role over the past two years in taking over major parts of weapons support for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022.

Following this, a rumor circulated online claiming that Ukraine had given false intelligence to the United States, which the US then leaked to Russia, revealing to be an unreliable intelligence partner for Ukraine. But is there any truth to this? Let us find out below.

Claim: Ukraine provided false info to US that was leaked to Russia

The claim spread online through posts on social media platforms such as X, Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky.

An X post read, "French news channel LCI reports: 'Ukrainian intelligence services passed false strategic information to U.S. intelligence agencies… and established that this information was then transmitted to Russia and used by Russian forces.' Trumpist America is working for Russia."

Similarly, a Facebook page named The Liberal Agenda featured a screenshot of an X post by user Luc Rombout that read, "Interesting message on French newschannel LCI:'Ukrainian intelligence services sent false strategic info to US intelligence agecies... and observed that the information had been relayed to RUS and was used by RUS forces."=> total replacement of US as Intell partner with FRA, GBR, DEU [France, the U.K., Germany].'"

The Facebook post's caption read, "Trump is leaking intelligence about our allies to Russia."

False: No credible evidence to confirm the rumor

There is no credible evidence that confirms Ukraine had shared false information with the US. The claim seemed to stem from a misunderstanding of an interview that aired on January 16 on the French news television channel LCI. 

During the interview, Vincent Crouzet, who formerly worked at the Directorate General for External Security (DGSE), France's foreign intelligence agency, said without citing his sources, that Ukrainian intelligence officials suspected the US had leaked information to Russia, causing Ukraine to stop sharing intelligence with the US.

Clarifying his assertion that the US had leaked Ukrainian intelligence to Russia, Crouzet wrote in a January 18 X post, which was translated, "No, I did not say that: I said Ukrainians suspected risks of information leaks from the U.S. to the Russians."

The rumor spread via the screenshot of the X post by Rombout, who identified himself on his LinkedIn page as the head of a crisis management center in Belgium. The post seemed to reshare a video clip posted on the 24H Pujadas account. It is a program on LCI, which is considered reputable in France.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that the interview clip was genuine and not created or altered using artificial intelligence (AI) editing tools.