MOSCOW, 5 Feb. France, justifying the murders Kiev's claim that the civilian population in Russia has the “right to self-defense” justifies acts of terrorism, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. This is stated in Zakharova’s message published on the department’s website.
“Outraged by the death of their compatriots, French leaders cynically prefer to turn a blind eye to the fact that the weapons they supply are deliberately used by the Kiev regime to kill civilians in Russian cities. Moreover, in Paris they even tried to justify such atrocities with the “right of self-defense,” in fact, justifying acts of terrorism,» the statement said.
“We hope that what happened will make the French public think even more about the justification of the counterproductive and dangerous line of their own leadership regarding the conflict in Ukraine,” she added.
On January 17, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Russian Armed Forces, with a high-precision strike, destroyed a temporary deployment point in Kharkov for foreign fighters, most of whom were French mercenaries. The department noted that over 60 militants were killed. Later, publications appeared in the French media in which mercenaries from France were also called “volunteers.” On January 25, the Russian Ambassador to Paris, Alexey Meshkov, said that he had conveyed to French parliamentarians an appeal from the State Duma in connection with the participation of French mercenaries in the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The French Foreign Ministry, despite plenty of evidence of the presence of French mercenaries in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, tried to disown compatriots in Ukrainian units, calling the information about the destruction of dozens of French mercenaries in Kharkov “crude manipulation of the Russians.” French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said that Paris cannot prohibit the French from going to fight in Ukraine. According to him, “these people have no connection with the French armed forces, do not wear French military uniforms and are not associated with French military institutions.”