Vladimir Putin claims French citizens are fighting with Russian forces

That's what the Russian president claimed on April 30th. According to him, these French fighters have "named their unit, like their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, 'Normandy-Niemen'".

This is a reference to the unit of French aviators who joined the Soviet army during the Second World War.

"Some citizens of the French Republic" are fighting "alongside" the Russians on the Ukrainian front, reported the Russian news agency Tass. "What's important is that there have always been people who shared, and still share today, our principles and values. People who are by our side," highlighted Vladimir Putin.

Experienced volunteers

Moreover, the newspaper Le Figaro, which relied on the statements of a Russian journalist from the state television channel Rossiya 1, indicates that a soldier with the callsign "Padre" arrived in Donbass last December, and another tricolour soldier with the callsign "Gautier" joined the Russians a month ago.

According to the information from this Russian journalist, the two volunteers were allegedly officers in the French army.

(MH with Manon Pierre - Source: L'Indépendant - Illustration: ©Unsplash)