It might be a surprise to most that President Macron, without Nato endorsement, kept his threat to involve France directly in the defence of Ukraine. It seems to have “missed” the media attention here & elsewhere that it is reliably reported the first 100 of an expected about 1300 of the the FFL 3rd Infantry Regiment recently passed through Poland on their way to support the Ukrainian 54th Independent Mechanised Brigade at Slavyansk. The FFL is part of the French army and would be the first open field deployment of Nato forces in Ukraine.
Clearly its concerning that Macron thought fit to deploy them and to do so alone. Whether this is “mission creep” is unknown and also unknown the reaction of the French public just before the EU election and for the country’s security in general?. Further, not unexpectedly is the question is whether Russia will react towards Nato & France ?,
For a NATO state to engage directly against Russian forces would be a very, very serious move. Hence, I don’t believe it Gordon. What’s your source?
What he said. Macron would be mad to do this.
Putin would absolutely love for his troops to capture anyone wearing a NATO uniform in Ukraine as it would be a massive “I told you so!” to any Russian doubting his claims of NATO aggression on Russia’s doorstep.
I would not be surprised to learn that NATO troops are in Ukraine, but I would think if so it’s likely to be in a training role and very far from the front lines where they might be captured.
The UK’s Royal Engineers have been training Ukrainian soldiers in mine clearance, but over the border in Poland, which seems a much more sensible option.
I am not a military expert, but I would think that any small forces from a NATO country (such as France) are not going to make much of a difference to the military position and as has been said would hand Putin a huge propaganda victory on a plate if any did fall into Russian hands.
Huge pinch of salt without a source.
I agree. That wouldn’t surprise me at all.
I have an open source and apparently, so far, the only one to divulge this information. Namely respected Stephen Bryen from Weapons & Strategy (weapons@substack.com) report yesterday and repeated today in Asia Times on line.
Not respected by me Gordon, never heard of him. Maybe BBC verify, or another reliable source? I’m sure there are as many nut jobs commenting on Ukraine as there were on Covid.
Something which at first view doesn’t just appear to be pro-Russian propaganda, but as I’ve never heard of this outlet, I have no idea of its political leanings.
EDIT : plus post-scriptum published here.
You are right to mention the danger of FFL being captured or worse. I recall weeks ago alleged French mercenaries were killed in Ukraine) This, if accurate, is not an insignificant number and appears not unlike the other “Nato advisors etc” to be an open military deployment. It could be considered a major “game changer” in all senses. I agree there are , of course, many unknowns, but this deployment, as the article claims, could give Putin licence to attack the entry country of this large battalion, Poland. I think it a very dangerous move of France to deliberately, by default, involve all Nato without prior agreement. Its early days. Has anyone seen any mention of this FFL current deployment in French media so far ?
You forgot to say “alleged FFL current deployment”. 
Mercenaries are not the same as regulars. Mercenaries have either been discharged from the armed forces, or else have deserted their posts and are, in the eyes of their employer if still employed, illegal guns for hire, irrespective of the nationality. There have been numerous previous reports of both Russian and other nationals who were employed in the FFL having left the FFL and become mercenaries, and/or regulars, in the RU-UA conflict. That wouldn’t be really surprising, given the nature of the conflict, but is a whole different ball game from a commander-in-chief potentially bypassing any legislatory process for a personally authorised military intervention.
I’m sure that’s possible too, and from many other nations. You’re also right that Putin could represent foreign fighters as being sponsored by their governments when they’re not. Not the first time 
I think the problem is that as along as the fighting continues nobody can predict what might happen. It’s the old story, everything went to shit slowly, then all at once. IMH(and trepidatious)O it wouldn’t take too much of a cock-up for things to go terribly, terribly badly and all this talk or rearming doesn’t make me feel any better.
I actually find it quite scary to see this thread on here. In general SF is a conspiracy plot free zone, and the fact that we are seriously discussing whether this might even be true is alarming. Shows how incredibly easy it is to undermine confidence in governments and organisations like NATO.
I can’t understand your concern ? After all we are resident in France and most are concerned about French affairs & politics. This deployment, already threatened ,by President Macron seems to have actually happened. It could involve France directly in the war in Ukraine and logically us as residents… If you think this is unimportant and prefer to discuss Lidl Red Label poulet so be it.
That is the point. I see no reliable evidence that it has, so am probably better off caring about chickens than entering into wild C-News type fabrications.
Except it was reported by a number of sources on April 11/12 - eg here where it was reported as being an advisory group.
Reports a few days later claimed they’d been “destroyed” or more than half killed by Russia.
None of the sources seem reliable IMO.