EXCLUSIVE. In Emmanuel Macron’s war headquarters at the Élysée

IIt is 5 a.m. on February 24, 2022. All the lights are off at the Élysée. A message falls on the mobile phone of Alexis Kohler, the secretary general of the presidency of the Republic. It is Emmanuel Bonne, the diplomatic adviser, who gives the alert. Vladimir Putin just announced “a special military operation in the Donbass” with the objectives of “demilitarization and denazification” from the country. The dreaded war, the real one, is on. Case of force majeure: it is urgent to wake up the president. The first time under this five-year term. The aide-de-camp therefore rushes into the private apartments of the Élysée Palace where the presidential couple resides to warn Emmanuel Macron. The Head of State exchanges a few messages with the…