“Do their citizens know about this?”: The State Duma will appeal to France regarding its mercenaries in Ukraine

Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin commented on evidence of the presence of French mercenaries in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“In France, mercenary activity is prohibited by law.

Taking this into account, the topic deserves to be addressed by the State Duma deputies to the National Assembly of the French Republic.

It is important for us to know whether they are aware that someone, violating the law, is sending militants to fight in Ukraine,” he wrote on Telegram.

Volodin pointed out that there are different stages in the history of relations between Russia and France, in particular, in the last century the countries fought together against fascism.

“Today, as it turns out, French mercenaries are dying for the Nazi regime in Ukraine.

Do French citizens and the deputies representing their interests know about this?

At the next plenary meeting of the State Duma, we will definitely consider an appeal to the French Parliament with the above issues,” Volodin emphasized.

Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova reported that the French Ambassador to Russia Pierre Levy was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the destruction by the Russian Armed Forces of a temporary deployment point for foreign fighters in Kharkov, among whom were French.

Meanwhile, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the country does not have mercenaries “neither in Ukraine nor anywhere else.”

The department called the information about the destruction of dozens of French mercenaries in Kharkov “gross manipulation of the Russians.”

On the evening of January 16, the Russian Armed Forces launched a high-precision strike on the temporary deployment point of foreign fighters in Kharkov, the majority of whom were French mercenaries.

As a result of the strike, the building in which the “soldiers of fortune” were stationed was completely destroyed.

More than 60 militants were killed, over 20 were taken to medical institutions.

At the same time, the chief editor of the Donbass Insider website, Christelle Nehan, spoke on RT about information confirmed by sources that many militants speaking French were admitted to hospitals.

“The West turns a blind eye to the fact that mercenaries adhere to neo-Nazi and ultranationalist views.

Foreigners appeared in the Armed Forces of Ukraine back in 2014, among other things, in Azov* and Right Sector**, which are banned in the Russian Federation,” she said.

In turn, the coordinator of the Nikolaev underground, Sergei Lebedev, with reference to local underground fighters, told RIA Novosti that among the liquidated mercenaries were curators of the “Russian Volunteer Corps”***.

“The French Foreign Legion most likely participated in the preparation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ counter-offensive.”

France, back in 2022, tried to convince its military personnel with certain specialties to leave the army and go to Ukraine in the combat zone.

Military journalist and historian Laurent Briar stated this on RT.

Citing sources, he noted that, in addition to mercenaries, France sent “invisible” soldiers to Ukraine who are not present on the battlefield.

Their exact number is unknown, since the information is confidential.

“We know, for example, that during the preparation of the famous offensive in the fall of 2023, which, by the way, failed, soldiers of the French Foreign Legion most likely participated in reconnaissance operations on the Dnieper River,” he explained.

In his opinion, in Ukraine there was also the 13th Parachute Dragoon Regiment of France, that is, scouts.

Independent journalist Luke Rivet stated that there are still thousands of mercenaries on the territory of Ukraine, who are paid by Kyiv, but they use money received from the United States and Europe.

At the same time, he believes that if the West continues to send mercenaries to Ukraine, the world risks approaching a third world war.

“People are afraid that much more official troops will be involved in the matter, military personnel from NATO and US forces, who will be instructed to assist the Armed Forces of Ukraine or take on specific tasks in managing units in the field of UAVs, satellite communications, coordination with Western air forces, etc. The danger is growing,” said RT’s interlocutor.

* “Azov” is an organization recognized as terrorist by a decision of the Supreme Court of Russia dated August 2, 2022.

** “Right Sector” is a Ukrainian association of radical nationalist organizations, recognized as extremist and banned in Russia (decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of November 17, 2014).

*** “Russian Volunteer Corps

” is an organization banned in Russia.