Paris is showing blatant hypocrisy by denying that there are French nationals fighting for the Ukrainian armed forces, Denis Pushilin, head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), said.

Earlier, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne claimed that there were no French mercenaries in Ukraine.

"We understand from both intelligence data and developments along the line of contact that there are French citizens fighting on the side of Ukrainian armed units, on a contract basis. However, it’s clear why France is behaving this way, and is unable to acknowledge the fact. Their hypocrisy is the reason. Their laws ban mercenary activities and, if they recognize this [is happening], it would indicate a clear violation of the law," Pushilin told Rossiya-24 television.

He added that the French were acting based on "double standards." "They will deny and dismiss it all, but once they get the chance, they will say that this was the plan all along," the DPR head noted.

 A draft message to the National Assembly of France in connection with the participation of French mercenaries in the Kiev regime's crimes has been submitted to the State Duma. The document may be considered at the plenary session of the lower house of parliament on January 24, the head of the State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky reported.

"The Committee on International Affairs submits a draft address to the National Assembly of France. We propose to include it in the agenda of the plenary session of the State Duma on January 24," Slutsky said.

In the draft message, the legislators indicate that they address their French counterparts in connection with evidence data confirmed by the competent authorities and independent media testifying to the participation of French mercenaries in hostilities on the side of the criminal Kiev regime.

"Although Paris denies the participation of French mercenaries in the military conflict in Ukraine and mercenarism is prohibited by French law, objective information about losses sustained by neo-Nazi mercenary units reliably testifies to the contrary," the draft message reads.

The legislators note that Ukraine, through the efforts of Western Russophobes, has turned "not only into an obedient tool of anti-Russian policies, but also into a large-scale military training ground where transnational companies - arms manufacturers - test their 'deadly goods,' and the military polish tactics and new forms of military confrontation."

"While hypocritically professing support for the Ukrainians, Western politicians, including French politicians, go beyond all bounds of logic and common sense to further expand supplies to Kiev of the latest military hardware, which require instructors familiar with NATO weapons and ammunition for training in their use and maintenance," the draft reads.

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The Russian Defense Ministry reported earlier that the Russian Armed Forces had carried out a strike on a temporary base for foreign mercenaries in the city of Kharkov, which had mostly hosted French nationals. The attack killed over 60 fighters and left more than 20 wounded. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on January 19 that a democratic country could not bar its nationals from voluntarily traveling to Ukraine to fight for Kiev. He stressed that such a ban could only be imposed on career military people and those affiliated with French military institutions.

The French Foreign Ministry, when asked to comment on Russia’s statements, confined itself to stating there were no French mercenaries in Ukraine, without confirming or denying the very fact that its citizens had been killed.

French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on January 19 that a democratic country was unable to ban its citizens who were not military personnel, from voluntarily going to Ukraine to fight on Kiev's side. He argued that the ban could not be enforced, if the persons in question were not military personnel and had no ties with French military institutions.

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