The Vice Chairman of the State Duma said the Russian army would kill all soldiers deployed by France to Ukraine, if Paris decides to do this.
“There are currently about 13.000 foreign mercenaries in Ukraine, including 367 French citizens. 147 French people were killed," Deputy Chairman of the State Duma (Russia's House of Representatives) Pyotr Tolstoy said on March 21.
Russia previously accused the Ukrainian government of recruiting fighters from 63 countries, including France, to fight for Kiev. Paris denied Moscow's statement, calling this accusation a "propaganda" move.
Referring to the possibility of Paris sending military forces to support Kiev, Mr. Tolstoy warned that the country's army would "kill all French soldiers who come to Ukraine".
“The idea of sending French soldiers to Ukraine will end with coffins covered with the tricolor flag in Orly,” said the Vice Chairman of the Russian State Duma, referring to the international airport located south of the French capital Paris. . “The French must understand that there will be consequences.”
Mr. Tolstoy also said Russia "does not care" about French President Emmanuel Macron's statements about there being "no more limits" to France's support for Ukraine. “We don't care about Macron or what he says about his limits,” the Russian official emphasized.
Vice Chairman of the Russian State Duma spoke after Sergey Naryshkin, director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), said on March 19 that France was preparing to send large-scale forces to Ukraine, in the first phase. possibly up to 3 soldiers.
The French Ministry of Defense later rejected the information given by the SVR leader. “What Mr. Naryshkin said shows once again how Russia systematically uses disinformation,” the French Ministry of Defense said.
Vice Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitri Medvedev announced on March 20 that Russia will "benefit" if France decides to deploy soldiers to Ukraine. He emphasized that French soldiers, if they come to Ukraine, will become “intervention forces” and that their removal is a “priority and a matter of honor” for the Russian army.
Tensions between Russia and France increased after President Macron last month said the West did not rule out the possibility of deploying ground troops to Ukraine in the future, which is considered taboo and could cause NATO to be drawn into a large-scale war. big for Russia.
Some Eastern European countries support Mr. Macron's idea, but Germany and many other European countries oppose it.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of the risk of nuclear conflict after Mr. Macron's speech, while Mr. Medvedev said the country would eliminate the "red line" with France.
However, Mr. Macron still refused to retract his position, even though he explained that the statement did not mean that France would send troops to Ukraine in the near future. President Macron reiterated on March 16 that the West may need to launch a ground operation in Ukraine "at some point", but emphasized that France was not the initiator.
Pham Giang (Follow TASS, BFMTV, AFP)