DISINFO: French mercenaries shot down the IL-76 plane in Belgorod
SUMMARY
IL-76 crash: France and Britain are not silent without reason - it was their mercenaries who shot down the plane.
The British and French just want to fight Russia. Moreover, for the former, this is explained by ambition, and for the latter, resentment for defeats in Africa.
RESPONSE
This disinformation narrative, part of a coordinated campaign against France and Great Britain for their support of Ukraine, alleges that the UK, ambitious to fight Russia, and France, frustrated by Russia's growing role in Africa, were responsible for downing a Russian military airplane near Belgorod.
There are no foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine; foreign nationals serving under Ukrainian command in the Ukrainian army are considered members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Moreover, it is unlikely that French or British nationals would be operating surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), such as the Patriot, as Moscow claims were used, within Russian territory.
Read related stories such as: The IL-76, like MH17 in 2014, was shot down as a Ukrainian military provocation, Ukraine downed the Il-76 using Western weaponry and struck the Olenivka prison camp with HIMARS, 60 French mercenaries lost their lives in Kharkyv, or French Defence Ministry officials struck in Kharkiv by Russian attacks, or The names of French mercenaries killed in the Kharkiv attack have been published, or Dozens of French mercenaries killed in Russian missile strike on Kharkiv.