Paris dismisses Russian claim of French 'mercenaries' in Ukraine

"France has no 'mercenaries' either in Ukraine or anywhere else, unlike some people," the foreign ministry told AFP, calling the claim "another clumsy Russian manipulation".

Moscow's defence ministry said on Wednesday that it had targeted "foreign militants in the city of Kharkiv, the core of which were French mercenaries" in a January 16 strike.

The ministry claimed to have killed dozens of foreign militants in the attack and injured many more, but did not provide evidence.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency said France's ambassador had been summoned in connection with the incident.

Tuesday's strikes tore into a multi-storey building in central Kharkiv, gutting the structure and leaving debris strewn around the street below.

Local authorities said 17 civilians were wounded, while Kharkiv region governor Oleg Synegubov said that there were no military targets in the area.

 "While the Russian defence ministry is claiming it killed 'French mercenaries', they actually hit residential, energy facilities and medical facilities," observer group All Eyes on Wagner wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Lying close to the Russian border, Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv has been under persistent shelling since Russia launched large-scale hostilities in February 2022. 

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)