STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.

Not Said

Did a guest in a clip from French TV channel LCI say Ukraine sent false strategic info to US intelligence services which they then observed Russian forces acting upon? No, that's not true: The video clip with guest Vincent Crouzet was about mounting distrust between Ukrainian and American intelligence services and the increased importance of intelligence coming from France and other allies of Ukraine. Crouzet did mention Ukraine deciding to stop sharing intelligence with the US due to concerns about leaks to Moscow but he did not say anything about Ukraine deliberately sharing false information.

One example of the claim appeared in a post on X (archived here) published on January 18 that read:

BREAKING: Ukrainian intelligence services sent false strategic info to US intel services and observed that the information had been relayed to Russis and was used by Russian forces - French channel LCI

The post was accompanied by a screenshot of an X post by @24hPujadas (archived here), which belongs to the current affairs show 24H Pujadas broadcast by French channel LCI (archived here). This is what the post said:

📢 : « Les yeux et les oreilles de Kiev », le parti pris #international de Vincent Crouzet @VincentCrouzet4

"Ce changement acte le divorce entre le renseignement ukrainien et le renseignement américain."#24hPujadas #LCI #Ukraine ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/we8gLaRF9V

-- 24h Pujadas (@24hPujadas) January 16, 2026

Translated, that says

"The eyes and ears of Kiev", the point of view of Vincent Crouzet. #international

and

This change marks the divorce between the Ukrainian and American intelligence.

The video is a segment from a January 16, 2026 broadcast (archived here) about the increasing role of French intelligence in Ukraine. After a clip in which French President Macron says France is now supplying two-thirds of Ukraine's intelligence, Crouzet can be heard saying:

Alors cette déclaration, elle est passée un petit peu inaperçue, pourtant elle est essentielle.

Elle est elle est essentielle à double titre, d'abord parce qu'elle acte le divorce entre le renseignement ukrainien et le renseignement américain, parce que si nous fournissons les deux tiers des capacités du renseignement pour l'Ukraine, j'imagine bien que le troisième tiers est fourni par les autres partenaires européens, en l'occurrence les Allemands et le Royaume-Uni. Alors ce divorce il date de quand ?

Il date évidemment depuis le 28 février donc 2000 2025 depuis l'année dernière depuis la fameuse séquence du bureau ovale et qui a induit une rupture de confiance entre le renseignement Ukrainien et le renseignement américain à tel point que les deux responsables de l'époque du renseignement ukrainien donc Vasil Maliouk pour le SBU et Kirill Boudanov, pour pour le GUR, le renseignement militaire Ukrainien, ont décidé de ne plus partager le renseignement efficient qu'ils avaient avec leurs partenaires américains de la part de fuites américaines vers Moscou.

(Transcript made with Google Pinpoint and slightly edited for grammar and spelling)

Translated by Google Translate and verified by Lead Stories, that says:

So this statement went somewhat unnoticed, yet it is crucial.

It is crucial for two reasons: first, because it confirms the rift between Ukrainian and American intelligence, because if we are providing two-thirds of the intelligence capabilities for Ukraine, I imagine the remaining third is provided by other European partners, in this case, Germany and the United Kingdom. So when did this rift begin?

It obviously dates back to February 28, 2025, since last year, since the infamous Oval Office incident, which led to a breakdown of trust between Ukrainian and American intelligence, to the point that the two heads of Ukrainian intelligence at the time, Vasyl Maliuk for the SBU and Kyrylo Budanov for the GUR, the Ukrainian military intelligence, decided to stop sharing the effective intelligence they possessed with their American partners due to American leaks to Moscow.

(highlight by Lead Stories)

The segment does not discuss or mention sending false information to US intelligence at all, it only mentions a decision to "stop sharing" because of "leaks".

Lead Stories reached out to Vincent Crouzet by email and he confirmed to us he never mentioned anything about sending false intelligence:

Like you I have reviewed the (video) extract, not being exactly sure today anymore, and I did not say it. I inferred that the Ukrainians feared leaks on the American side (which is not that unlikely having heard about the leaks from telephone conversations between Witkoff and Ushakov, or knowing the history of Tulsi Gabbard... not very reassuring for Kiev).

Updates:

• 2026-01-19T16:05:02Z 2026-01-19T16:05:02Z
  Added statement from Vincent Crouzet.