The Russian Parliament adopted a resolution on Wednesday January 24 denouncing the presence of “ French mercenaries ” in Ukraine. This Duma vote follows Russia’s announcement of a bombing of Kharkiv which, according to the Kremlin, killed dozens of French fighters during the night of Tuesday to Wednesday January 17. In reality, the announced death of these French people in Ukraine is part of a vast information attack.
It all started on Wednesday January 17 when the Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have struck a building in Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, used as a “ temporary deployment zone by mercenaries, most of whom were French citizens “. Moscow then mentions the elimination of 60 fighters and 20 wounded. The French ambassador to Russia, Pierre Lévy, was immediately summoned by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For its part, Paris formally denies the information.
A few days later, the identities of several French fighters, presented as mercenaries and who would have been killed in Kharkiv, appear on a Russian-speaking Telegram channel. Several lists are circulating, some of which have already appeared online in 2022. The most popular includes 13 names, of men aged between 24 and 49. Several leading Russian media, Sputnik, RT, Ria Novosti, relay it, as proof of the elimination of French fighters.
On social networks, accounts identified as usual vectors of pro-Russian propaganda also help to give visibility to this list.
To find out what really happened, RFI’s Info Verif unit contacted several members of this list. Two of them agreed to testify. This is the case of Alexis Drion, second name on the list. Pako, his code name, left for Ukraine in April 2023 to join the Charly company in the 2nd battalion of the Ukrainian International Legion. His group was deployed on the eastern front, in the Donetsk region, more precisely in the Liman and Yampil region.
“ On January 17, 2024, I was in Pays de la Loire, in France, I am not dead, I am alive. Everything is going very well for me. The whole month of September, I didn’t go back to Ukraine. According to the information I have had, no French person was injured or affected by these strikes. It’s Russian propaganda just to scare people or to try to put France into the conflict. »
Another name appears on this list, that of Béranger Minaud. He is also given up for dead by Russian propaganda. “ I completely confirm that I was not there (the day of the bombing of Kharkiv, Editor’s note) quite simply because I returned to France a few months ago. There are others who are on this list that I do not know directly, but with whom I communicate and who are indeed alive and who were not there either. » All French fighters in Ukraine repeat it, there is no proof that French people were killed that day.
Volunteers and not mercenaries
Contrary to what Moscow claims, French fighters in Ukraine are not mercenaries but volunteers. The distinction is established by the Geneva Conventions. The text specifies that a mercenary is an individual engaged in combat but “ who is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict “. However, the Ukrainian International Legion, where volunteers from all over the world enlist, is a branch of the regular army. Legally, nothing distinguishes Béranger Minaud from a Ukrainian soldier.
“ We have exactly the same statuses, the same advantages and the same disadvantages. The only advantage we can have over a Ukrainian soldier is the fact that we can break our contract if we wish. We fight in Ukrainian uniform with a Ukrainian contract, a Ukrainian military identity card and a Ukrainian tax number. We are not like Wagner could be in the time of Yevgeny Prigojine when it was a private company acting on behalf of a State. »
One of the other criteria that defines a mercenary is “ that he takes part in hostilities essentially with a view to obtaining (…) material remuneration significantly higher than that promised or paid to combatants of similar rank and function in the armed forces of that Party “. This is not the case for volunteers from the International Legion who receive exactly the same salary as Ukrainian soldiers, describes Alexis Drion.
“ The Legion when we were on base, we were paid 20 000 hryvnia, or between 390 and 500 euros, fed and housed. In deployment, it depends on the area where you will land and where you sleep. Premiums may vary, but generally you will be between 70 000 and 120 000 hryvnia, so between 2 000 and 3 000 euros. » Alexis Drion affirms that volunteers do not commit for the money.
“ To tell you, I returned in September, I received the end of my salaries in November. And when I finally say the end of my payments, I have not been reimbursed for everything that was gasoline from my pocket, tire repaired from my pocket to go on deployment, gasoline, equipment purchases… We, this What they say is that whoever wants to take the money has two choices. Either he goes to a private military club or he goes to the opposing team which is extremely well paid. Me, in all those I have seen at the International Legion, everyone is there out of ideology, for Europe. »
The French minority
This false list shows Russia’s desire to highlight the presence of French fighters on the Ukrainian side. However, French volunteers are rather rare on the front, according to Alexis Drion. “ When I arrived at the 2nd battalion, there were five French people. They were deployed in the North and when I came back, they cut their contracts for some, others returned home, and as a result, I was the only French person for that deployment. Thousands of French people do not. Hundreds perhaps, scattered left and right. Afterwards, there is a lot of back and forth. You should know that there are volunteers from the Legion, volunteers integrated into the Ukrainian territorial defense and others in units like the GUR (intelligence unit, Editor’s note) or naval troops. »
Among the approximately 20,000 volunteers who joined the Ukrainian International Legion, “ the French are a large minorityconfirms Béranger Minaud. In the whole company, there must have been five French people. This is little. There is a large proportion of South Americans, Europeans and North Americans. Volunteers come from everywhere, from Australia to Japan. » Note also that French citizens also got involved on the Russian side.
The tone rises between Paris and Moscow
This Russian disinformation operation comes at a critical moment in relations between Paris and Moscow. A few hours before Russia falsely announced the death of “ French mercenaries “, France formalized the delivery of 40 Scalp missiles to Ukraine. A timing which therefore has the air of retaliation on the part of the Kremlin. Targeted by this informational attack, Paris did not remain without a response. “ Faced with the intensification of French military aid to Ukraine, we expect this Russian intoxication maneuver to continue : we condemn it and we are strengthening our system for monitoring these manipulations », Communicated the French Ministry of the Armed Forces this Friday January 26.