Since the beginning of the special military operation, over 300 French mercenaries have arrived in Ukraine to participate in hostilities, an informed source told Sputnik.
"Some of them served in the 2nd Parachute Regiment of the Foreign Legion of the 11th airborne brigade of the French Armed Forces (in the town of Calvi on island of Corsica)," it said.
“During the fighting, about 130 people were killed, up to 170 people left Ukrainian territory. As of January of this year, there were 50 militants from France in the Northern Military District zone,” the source added.
The source indicated that “foreign mercenaries are part of the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine (ILOU).”
The Russian Defense Ministry said last week that a strike at a building in Kharkov the night before killed 60 mercenaries, most of them of French origin. The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned French ambassador Pierre Levy to tell him that the French government alone was to blame for the death of its compatriots because it condoned the recruitment of fighters by Ukraine.
French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu argued that the government could not stop the French from fighting in Ukraine because they were not part of the national armed forces. He also accused Russia of overstating the role of French citizens in the conflict.