Ukraine has targeted the French company Auchan, which it accuses of having supported the Russian army, specifically by supplying products to soldiers. The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dmitro Kuleba, assured in a message on Twitter that the French group is "a weapon of Russian aggression".
These accusations come after the French newspaper Le Monde published an investigation on Friday revealing that Auchan and Leroy Merlin collaborated in supplying the Russian armed forces in Ukraine, something that the group that owns both chains denies.
Specifically, the aforementioned media outlet tells that, a month after the war broke out, a subsidiary of the group in Saint Petersburg carried out a collection of food products aimed at Kremlin soldiers sent "to the special operation in Ukraine".
According to this investigation, carried out together with the NGO Bellingcat and The Insider, more than $26,000 was raised. Auchan belongs to the Mulliez group, which brings together the businesses of this family, the eighth largest fortune in France. Auchan is the fifth supermarket chain in the country and has been in Russia and Ukraine for years. The French conglomerate also has the DIY chain Leroy Merlin or the Decathlon sports chain.
At the outbreak of the war, most of the Western companies left Russia, but Auchan decided to remain, like other companies in the food sector, such as Danone or Nestlé, claiming that they provided a service to guarantee the needs of the population.
The Ukrainian foreign minister already called for a boycott of Auchan for not having left the country. In a speech before the French Assembly, Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky also demanded that French companies that had not yet left the Russian market do so or they would be "accomplices in Russian crimes."
"Auchan has become a weapon of Russian aggression," Kuleba has now said, who, after the revelations in the French newspaper, has indicated that he is going to discuss the matter with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna.
The group has "categorically" denied the accusations in a statement on Friday. Auchan management has claimed to be unaware of this information and has claimed to be "very surprised" by this investigation. "We do not finance or participate voluntarily and actively in any collection for the Russian forces," the group told the AFP agency.
Auchan's Ukrainian branch posted a message on Facebook saying it was shocked by these accusations, as the group "has provided more than $1.6 million in assistance to Ukrainians since the start of the war."
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