Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba intends to discuss with his French counterpart Catherine Colonna the findings of the investigation by The Insider and Le Monde on the supply of goods by the Russian "daughter" of the French Auchan to the Russian military army.
“Last year, I called on the world to boycott Auchan for not leaving Russia and stopping funding war crimes. However, the reality seems to be much worse: Auchan has become a full-fledged weapon of Russian aggression. I intend to discuss this with my French colleague,” Kuleba wrote on Twitter.
As the joint investigation of The Insider and Le Monde showed , the Russian Auchan from the very beginning of the full-scale invasion supplied goods for the Russian military in the territories of the occupied regions of Ukraine. The deliveries to the military were positioned as “humanitarian aid” and consisted of both goods from the “Auchan” warehouses and goods collected by volunteers on the territory of the Auchan stores in different regions of the country. In some regions, deliveries were organized in direct cooperation with local authorities. In addition to the supply of goods, "Auchan" helped the military registration and enlistment offices to recruit mobilized from among their employees.
It should be noted that, according to international law, only assistance to the civilian population is considered humanitarian assistance during international conflicts. The support of one of the warring parties can bring Auchan under sanctions and lead to the company leaving the Russian market (which for Auchan, which has 230 stores in Russia, is 10% of turnover, that is, about € 3.2 billion per year ).
