LÉA GIRARDOT/LE MONDE USING IMAGES FROM ISTOCK
He goes by "The Admiral" or "Vladimir." The two pseudonyms sum up his two passions: the navy and Russia. Perfectly bilingual and married to a Russian woman, Ludovic P., 38, is an active-duty French soldier who served until 2025 at the office of the French president as a linguist. In this role, he prepared the president's telephone communications relating to Russia, wrote memos and analyses on Kremlin affairs, and required a security clearance due to his access to sensitive information. In his spare time, this expert in open source intelligence (OSINT) used Google Maps to chart Russian warships sailing in the Pacific and identify their routes and home ports.
On April 13, Ludovic P., now stationed in northern France, was taken into custody at the offices of the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI), the domestic intelligence agency. He was charged two days later with "removal, misappropriation and disclosure of national defense secrets," Le Monde has learned, as confirmed by the Paris prosecutor's office. He is suspected of being linked to Archange Solutions Osint, a private economic intelligence company.
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