France is testing a new military unit that could be useful in Ukraine

France, as part of a 14,000-strong NATO exercise taking place in Estonia, is testing a new reconnaissance unit that could be useful in Ukraine, RTL reports.

The aim of the exercise is to demonstrate to Russia that invading the Baltic states is "not a good idea," the outlet writes.

The French army is testing the combat capability of the new FRAN group, which will be responsible for "going behind enemy lines undetected to provide reconnaissance and trench capture".

The experimental unit, consisting of "ultra-low-visibility soldiers", is designed to identify enemy trenches and "entry points" to these trenches for the purpose of their subsequent capture, which is also part of the FRAN soldiers' duties.

The French military is training "in real conditions," the newspaper notes, and, according to the soldiers themselves, they are ready to "defend their Estonian ally."

"The terrain in Estonia is similar to Ukraine and the wide eastern plains, so it's very interesting for us," said Staff Sergeant Quentin.

The soldiers taking part in the exercise can "hide in the bushes for hours in camouflage clothes" using drone video.

"We have real-time feedback from the camera. We can see the troops on the ground very well from a height of 200 or 300 metres," the sergeant explained.

The day before, knowledgeable sources told The New York Times that NATO countries may send troops to Ukraine to "quickly" and "efficiently" train the Ukrainian army to repel a Russian offensive this summer.

Moving the training to Ukrainian territory will allow instructors to gather information about innovations on the front line more quickly and adapt the curriculum accordingly, the NYT interlocutors said.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Brown, in turn, called the deployment of NATO troops to Ukraine inevitable.

For the first time, French President Emmanuel Macron announced the deployment of Western troops to Ukraine in late February. In early May, he named two conditions for this: the Russian army must break through the front line and Kyiv must ask for help. He also noted that Paris could take such a step if there was a threat of Russia seizing Kyiv or Odesa.