The Ukrainian center for deployment of foreign mercenaries near the town of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, was struck, the Russian Defense Ministry said on January 21 in its daily assessment of the military operation.
Earlier, the building in Kharkov housing the foreign mercenaries was destroyed by the Russian armed forces, the defense ministry said, adding that more than 60 fighters were killed and over 20 wounded.
After the strike, the French ambassador to Russia, Pierre Levy was summoned by the Russian diplomatic service in connection with the incident. The French diplomacy denied the presence of Frenchmen in the ranks of the Ukrainian army.
Commenting on the situation, Francois Mauld d'Aymee, who fought in the war in Donbass against Ukraine before obtaining Russian citizenship, told Sputnik Africa that the French-speaking mercenaries fighting alongside Kiev include French-speaking Canadians "from radical nationalist circles."