MOSCOW (Sputnik) – One of the 10 parliamentarians said:
"You always have to come to a place and see what is happening. During these two days, we have seen that there is no occupation, people are free. We have seen that it is a peaceful region, people live in peace."
The French lawmakers, led by lower-house National Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee member Thierry Mariani, said they had decided to make the trip to Crimea to get a better understanding of what was going in the territory that has recently reunified with Russia.
Since April 2014, the Ukrainian armed forces have been fighting independence supporters in the country's eastern regions. The number of casualties arising from the ongoing hostilities has surpassed 6,500 people, according to UN estimates.
