Media expose French retailer Auchan’s support to russian military

Since the beginning of russia's full-scale invasion, the russian "daughter" of the French retailer Auchan has supplied goods to the russian military in the occupied Ukrainian territories under the guise of humanitarian aid to civilians and also helped the military enlistment officers to recruit conscripts.

As a joint investigation by The Insider, Le Monde, and Bellingcat shows, the supplies consisted of goods from Auchan warehouses and goods collected by volunteers on the territory of Auchan stores in various regions of the aggressor country russia.

The investigation mentions a letter sent to St. Petersburg stores employees: "Colleagues, please collect the cession for humanitarian aid (according to the list in the attachment) and send it to the North store tonight. Let me know when the pallets will be collected."

The goods in the said attachment do not look like "humanitarian aid": socks for men in size 40 shoes, cigarettes (which are never supplied as humanitarian aid), lighters, and razors, but nothing for women and children. The number of goods (1000 tubes of toothpaste, 500 lighters) indicates many recipients. This would be enough for one or two battalions.

Further, ten legal entities formalize this "humanitarian aid" as a purchase. These companies are related to each other: they all serve St. Petersburg's Passajiravtotrans logistics company, which, in turn, belongs to the city's Transport Committee. Some of these legal entities, at the request of journalists, did not hide the fact that the goods were sent to the russian military.

In addition, Auchan used not only its St. Petersburg stores in supplies for the occupation troops. This is evidenced by the fact that the deliveries were coordinated with the Moscow office and that in other regions, the collection of aid was also recorded in the territory of shopping centers belonging to Auchan. So, for example, in Samara, Rybinsk, and Vladimir, collection points for "humanitarian aid for Donbas" were located on the territories of Auchan stores.

Not only Auchan but also Leroy Merlin, which belongs to the same holding, was engaged in supplying goods to Ukrainian territories occupied by russian troops. For example, in a video published in December from Mariupol, you can see how members of the "Young Guard of United Russia" unload identical pallets with the Leroy Merlin brand.

Aushan also helped the russian authorities fight draft evaders: the company collected and submitted data about its employees to the military enlistment offices, and after the mobilization was announced, it helped the military commissariats comply with the norm: at the workplace, employees were served with draft notices and offered to resign.