Russian deputies voted on Wednesday for a resolution denouncing the alleged presence of French “mercenaries” fighting for kyiv in Ukraine, an accusation denied by Paris which sees it as a new disinformation campaign by the Kremlin. “It is regrettable that the French authorities, who were once with our country one of the initiators of political-military détente in Europe, are prolonging with their actions the agony of the Nazi regime in Kiev,” indicates this resolution addressed to the French National Assembly. The text was published on the website of the Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament.
13 French mercenaries
On January 17, the Russian army claimed to have destroyed a building in Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, where “mercenaries, most of whom were French citizens,” were deployed. Sixty fighters were “eliminated” and 20 injured, Moscow assured. A pro-Russian French association, SOS Donbass, then released on Monday a list of names of 13 “French mercenaries” present in Kharkiv at the time of this strike. Another list of 30 names is also circulating on Telegram.
As soon as the Russian army’s announcement was made, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied and denounced “a new crude Russian manipulation”, stressing that France did not have “mercenaries”, neither in Ukraine nor elsewhere. In return, on Friday, the French ambassador in Moscow was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry to be criticized for “the growing involvement of Paris in the conflict in Ukraine.”
These accusations of “mercenarism” targeting France come as Paris has increased its promises of arms deliveries to Ukraine in recent weeks and is preparing to conclude a security agreement with kyiv. Some of the identities put forward on these lists are also false, according to a French diplomatic source. And doubt remains over the very fact that French people died in this Russian strike.
From the first months, the conflict in Ukraine attracted foreign volunteers who went to fight alongside kyiv soldiers. At the end of December 2023, a security source estimated the number of French fighters in Ukraine at “a few dozen, less than 50”, “all of them far-right or ultra-right”.