French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Friday that his country cannot prevent French citizens from going to fight in Ukraine.
In an interview with LCI television, Lecornu said that these individuals are civilians with no connection to the French military.
When asked about the status of French citizens who are participating in the conflict in Ukraine, Lecornu said: “There are French civilians who have gone to fight in Ukraine in Ukrainian military uniform. We cannot prevent them, we are still a democracy, and by definition, these people do not have any connection to the French armed forces, they do not wear French military uniform, and they are not affiliated with French military institutions.”
According to Lecornu, the claims that there are French mercenaries in Ukraine are part of a “Russian information war,” which has “intensified” after French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would be providing Kyiv with an additional 40 Scalp missiles.
On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian forces had targeted a temporary staging area in Kharkiv for foreign fighters, killing a large number of them. The ministry claimed that most of the dead were French mercenaries.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the French ambassador on Thursday, and the State Duma, according to its chairman Vyacheslav Volodin, will consider sending a letter to the French parliament in its next session to find out if French lawmakers are aware that there are people sending French citizens, in violation of French law that prohibits mercenary activity, to fight in Ukraine.
