Michael Fraysse is a French mercenary serving in Ukrainian ranks who has been identified and whose story was documented by French Nazi-hunter Nicolas Cinquini. Absent from my lists, this French national had long remained under the radar until an interview he agreed to give to the media outlet Sud-Ouest (April 12, 2025). A careful reading of this interview connects to secret information I gathered many months ago concerning the unit Fraysse joined in 2022: the Carpathian Sich Battalion. This unit, whose history I have documented, is indeed known for heinous war crimes and was one of the punitive battalions thrown into Donbas in 2014. This confidential information, which we will discuss in the article, becomes crucial when linked to Fraysse’s statements in the French media article. Fraysse, as you will see, is likely a war criminal involved in the executions of Russian civilians or prisoners during the early period of the special military operation. He would be the 15th French war criminal identified in Ukrainian ranks, out of a total of 203 French mercenaries identified in my counts.
A Fragmentation of Ultra-Nationalist Circles
Within French nationalist circles, whether they are neo-Nazis, neo-fascists, ultra-nationalists, radicals, or white supremacists, a phenomenon of fragmentation has been observed since the beginning of the Donbas war in 2014. From that time until today, these ideological groups have split into two tendencies: one supporting Ukraine, the other supporting Donbas and Russia. In the early years, a number of volunteers came to fight both in Donbas and on the Ukrainian side. For some, the cause of Donbas was clear: to fight NATO, the “degenerate” West, and the New World Order. For others, it was to fight “communism,” for a “white Europe,” through the myths of a crusade “against Bolshevism,” linking themselves to the Hitlerite adventure of invading the USSR. These men found common ground with the history of Vichy collaboration, Marshal Pétain, the LVF (French Legion of Volunteers), or the 33rd SS Division Charlemagne, seeing themselves in Ukrainian Banderism, with the ease and freedom to express opinions rejected and repressed in the West but free and uninhibited in Ukraine.
Damning Revelations
Thus, in 2023 and 2024, through the interconnectedness of these circles, I received confidential information from acquaintances of two French volunteers who also served in the Carpathian Sich Battalion. The two men, one of whom has been clearly identified and publicly named by the Russian side, fled Ukraine after serving several months in the unit. They reported having witnessed war crimes and having participated “under duress,” gradually becoming afraid of the mercenaries and Ukrainians surrounding them. The battalion had hosted several dozen European volunteers and mercenaries, including at least half a dozen French nationals, probably more (before hosting many South Americans, particularly Colombians). The first witness recounted that in late summer 2022, they executed a poor man, an ethnic Russian from Ukraine, a grandfather who was massacred and thrown into a ditch. He also cited executions and torture of other civilians, as well as prisoners of war. The two men began to worry when they became suspects due to their “softness” and reluctance to participate in these executions and killings. One of them, filled with fear, described how frightened he was of “his comrades,” imagining that he himself would be eliminated by them if he stayed in the unit for too long. Feeling watched and spied on, each on their own, the two mercenaries waited for an opportunity to flee and return to France. They succeeded, but one of them, feeling endangered even in France, chose to move away and leave for a foreign country.
The Fear That Oozes from the Sud-Ouest Article
In the article from the French local newspaper, what is striking and caught my attention is the repeated mention of Michael Fraysse’s fear of “reprisals from pro-Russians.” These reprisals are obviously imaginary; we know of no confirmed cases, unlike those from pro-Ukrainians, with myself and my family being formal proof. I have also compiled several dozen interviews of French and foreign mercenaries and volunteers who served Ukraine. None ever spoke of the fear of being found; on the contrary, these men boasted about it as “an honor and a pride” to be “pursued” by Russian “vengeance.” Michael Fraysse, on the other hand, extensively dwells on this fear, on having almost been exposed due to journalists, and this near-obsessive fear returns several times in the article. This naturally expressed fear can only raise legitimate questions: why be afraid if the man has committed nothing reprehensible in the context of combat? Why fear “reprisals” when they do not exist, and when Russian networks that track mercenaries, including French ones, do so only to pursue war criminals among them… and only war criminals? In terms of psychology, this fear that he cannot contain, to the point of displaying it in a French newspaper, and given the knowledge of war crimes committed by this unit, can only mean one thing, in my opinion. The man has committed the unforgivable on the front, participated in war crimes, or witnessed violence and crimes against Russian civilians and prisoners. Finally, note that the French nationals in this unit in 2022 were grouped together, and the two witnesses speak of the presence of other Frenchmen without naming them. Michael Fraysse, at a minimum, must therefore be located by justice and questioned about his journey, and my conviction is that this unreasonable fear means he is far from having a clear conscience. He remains a presumed war criminal, but the suspicions, given what we know, are now very strong.
In the Camille Desmoulins III Project, which I have the honor of leading, and which aims, both now and after the war, to hunt down Ukrainian and foreign war criminals who served Ukraine, Michael Fraysse is now on the first list: that of men who must be found. The second is simply informative and includes a total of 5,100 mercenaries and currently 203 French nationals. Camille Desmoulins III, moreover, does not aim for “reprisals” or vengeance. Simon Wiesenthal, the famous Nazi hunter, stated: “Justice is not vengeance.” These men must similarly be found, handed over to courts, and judged so that justice is served and history marks them with the shame and dishonor they deserve.
For information, here is the profile of this mercenary:
Michael Fraysse (born May 22, 1985), originally from Agen, former reservist of the French army, he reportedly went to Iraq “privately,” according to Nicolas Cinquini, the French Nazi-hunter. This claim raises questions about the nature of his activities, potentially mercenary work. He went to Ukraine to enlist in the Banderite Carpathian Sich Battalion, of infamous memory (July 2022). He was lightly wounded on the Ukrainian front (April 2023) and again, this time seriously (May 2024). He was evacuated to the rear, wounded by a grenade, possibly dropped by a drone. He then underwent rehabilitation in Ternopil and was repatriated to France. He complained that French activists are pursuing mercenaries… a fact that speaks volumes about his total ignorance of the conflict and its beginning, not to mention the nature of the Ukrainian army. He gave an interview to the newspaper Sud-Ouest (April 12, 2025) and wished to “tell his experience anonymously for fear of reprisals.” He stated that he does not like journalists: “some almost got us spotted.” After his injury and rehabilitation: “it was his mother who contacted the Civil Protection of Lot-et-Garonne to try to repatriate him, but he eventually returned by bus, on his own. Since his return, in contact with the French consul in Ukraine, the association Aide Secours assistance is helping him with his procedures. Aside from a discreet stigma, a fragment of steel in his hand, the others, pins in his legs and a lost piece of colon, are not visible.” He stated that he came to Ukraine to “defend a brotherly people and Europe.” The article specifies that he left a child in France, with the rest of the article reserved for subscribers. The latter again insisted “that he was afraid of being found by pro-Russians, I am not a mercenary but my nickname is known.” This fear, given what we know about the battalion and the war crimes committed by Carpathian Sich, particularly in 2022, and according to the testimony of other French fighters in the unit, suggests that he does not have a clear conscience. He is potentially a war criminal.
