Since 1. French troops are already deployed to Ukraine (and ha | Russians With Attitude

Since 1. French troops are already deployed to Ukraine (and have been killed in noticeable numbers, particularly with that one missile strike in Kharkov), 2. French special forces have been in Ukraine even before the beginning of the SMO, 3. a French presence on the ground would not have a game-changing military impact (they'd have to deploy their entire combat-ready Armed Forces to actually change the situation, and even then it's doubtful how much they could actually achieve), it has to be assumed that the only actual purpose of openly announcing and sending French troops in an official capacity is that the French government believes they can render certain areas or targets off limits for Russian advances and strikes because they assume the Russian government would be afraid to attack French troops. That is an interesting gamble. If they go for it, we'll see how it plays out...