France on Thursday denied Moscow’s claim that Russian forces had bombarded French “mercenaries” in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, saying it does not employ guns-for-hire.
France on Thursday denied Moscow’s claim that Russian forces had bombarded French “mercenaries” in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, saying it does not employ guns-for-hire.
This reeks of France saying they’re not “French” mercenaries: they’re mercenaries that happen to be of French nationality.
I don’t think many people are claiming that the French government is paying mercenaries to fight in Ukraine, but that the Ukrainian government may be paying French mercenaries to fight in Ukraine.