The Russian branch of Auchan, a French multinational retail group, has been supplying products to Russian soldiers since the Ukraine war broke out, The Insider, Le Monde, and Bellingcat have uncovered in a joint investigation.
Journalists obtained corporate emails of several company employees. For instance, managing supervisor Natalya Zeltser from Auchan’s St. Petersburg office asked St. Petersburg hypermarket employees to collect “humanitarian aid” from the provided list and send it to an Auchan store in the city.
The attached “humanitarian aid” list contains lighters, cigarettes, shaving products, and socks. The investigative journalists note that the list has no items for women and children, while cigarettes are never supplied as humanitarian aid.
At the same time, it can be concluded that many people received the supplies judging by the amount of products (more than 2,000 packs of different brands of cigarettes, for instance). The journalists believe that this “aid” sufficed for one or two battalions.
Zeltser then wrote to Auchan’s central office, asking to file the “humanitarian aid” as a purchase made by ten legal entities. In response, she received a list of companies officially put down as buyers.
The journalists contacted heads of these organisations. Some of them immediately confessed that the products were meant for the Russian military. Others refused to speak to the media outlets or tried to come up with a reason why their company needed 700 lighters.
All these companies are linked, the reporters claim. They work with an agency that is run by the St. Petersburg transport committee. Previously, Deputy Chair of the St. Petersburg Social Policy Committee Alexander Lyubimov said that “he and his colleagues from the transport committee” created a logistical plan to deliver “humanitarian aid” for the Russian Defence Ministry, the journalists write.
According to international law, only products meant for the civilian population can be classified as “humanitarian aid” in armed conflicts.
The investigation points out that it was not just St. Petersburg Auchan stores that supplied aid to the military. Points of collecting “humanitarian aid for Donbas” were set up in Auchan hypermarkets in Samara, Rybinsk, and Vladimir.
Apart from that, Auchan was also helping the authorities to crack down on men avoiding army draft, the investigation notes. In particular, the company was sending data on its staff members to draft offices, while draft notices were handed in the stores and employees were advised to resign.
The media outlets sent a request to speak with the top management of Auchan’s Russia office but were denied any comments. The French headquarters said that the company is not involved in politics and does not aid service members.
After the Ukraine war broke out, Auchan refused to close down its business in Russia. “It is not our choice to give up on our employees, their families, and our customers,” the press release said.