DISINFO: The names of French mercenaries killed in the Kharkiv attack have been published
SUMMARY
French volunteers from SOS Donbass have supplied Russian media with a partial list of mercenaries, according to their information, were present at a Kharkiv military base during the missile strike on the night of January 16-17.
According to the Russian Defence Ministry, more than 60 French mercenaries fighting on the side of the Ukrainian armed forces were reportedly killed.
RESPONSE
This is a pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative claiming that foreigners fighting for Ukraine are mercenaries and are being successfully defeated by the Russian army. This narrative perpetuates the cliché that Russia is not fighting Ukraine, but rather NATO countries within Ukraine.
Foreign fighters in Ukraine are incorporated into the Ukrainian forces and are not classified as mercenaries or members of Private Military Contractors. This practice is common in various armies; for instance, the French Army incorporates foreign nationals into the Légion étrangère.
The report does not provide any evidence to support the claim. French authorities have dismissed the claim, stating, 'France has no "mercenaries" either in Ukraine or anywhere else, unlike some people,' and labelled the assertion as 'another clumsy Russian manipulation.'
The source of the list of alleged liquidated mercenaries and organizer of several protests against Ukrainian defense in France informed Sputnik that they was uncertain whether the individuals on the list were dead, alive, or even injured. She stated that this needed clarification and that further information would be provided later. Consequently, Sputnik itself refutes the notion that this list refers to liquidated personnel.
An interview with a French volunteer in Ukraine, conducted on January 21, 2023, and aired on LCI, suggests that the Russian airstrike targeted civilian infrastructure. The volunteer refuted the Russian Ministry of Defense's claim of a large concentration of foreign volunteers, implying it was implausible. Furthermore, the NGO Eyes on Wagner has provided evidence indicating that the strike hit various civilian targets, including infrastructure, medical facilities, commercial buildings and residential apartment buildings.
The claim is reminiscent of the strike against the Park Hotel in Kharkiv on January 10, 2024, where it was allegedly a centre for foreign mercenaries was destroyed. However, the hotel was actually used by foreign journalists.
See related cases such as: Significant number of foreign mercenaries fighting on Ukraine's side, Nazi mercenaries from Europe fight in Ukraine, over 2,500 foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine; that the Nazi Kyiv regime creates “Hitler-Jugend” and conscripts women en masse; that over 11,000 foreign mercenaries fought on Ukraine's side since February 2022.