Nicolas Cinquini, a former French counter-terrorism intelligence officer currently looking into information regarding French citizens participating on Ukraine's side in the conflict, informed Sputnik on Thursday that approximately 75 French mercenaries in Ukraine have either been killed, injured, or have returned to France since the beginning of the conflict.

“Including those killed, wounded, and those who have returned, the list I have published as of today includes 75 individuals who have been identified accurately or under pseudonyms, which can already tell us a lot,” Cinquini said.

He mentioned that the list also comprises two individuals whom French authorities refer to as "volunteers".
 
"The government presented them as 'humanitarian workers', employees of a Swiss NGO, but I am convinced that they were government agents. Their existence was revealed to us with their death on February 1," the former intelligence officer said.

He also indicated possessing information about additional mercenaries who engaged in hostilities on behalf of Kiev.

“The rest have just been discovered and there is not yet enough information about them to publish,” Cinquini stressed.

Simultaneously, the French Foreign Ministry has refuted the existence of French mercenaries within the Ukrainian Armed Forces, attributing such claims to Russian "disinformation", despite reports in the French media about French citizens killed in Ukraine.

Several statements released ever since the beginning of the Ukraine-Russian conflict show that Kiev's Western allies have mercenaries fighting in Ukraine.

Dive deeper 

Related News

EU agrees in principle on Ukraine funding deal despite Belgium threats

Russia accuses UK, EU of backing sabotage, attacks via Ukraine

In mid-March, the Russian Defense Ministry announced more than 13,387 foreign mercenaries arrived in Ukraine to participate in hostilities against Russia.

Within that timeframe, 5,962 militants were eliminated, according to the ministry. Poland was identified as the leading contributor in terms of the number of slain mercenaries, with 2,960 individuals arriving from there, out of which 1,497 were killed.

Following Poland, Georgia saw 561 casualties out of 1,042 mercenaries, while arrivals from the United States suffered 491 losses out of 1,113 individuals.

Additionally, 422 out of 1,005 Canadian mercenaries, 360 out of 822 British mercenaries, and 349 out of 784 Romanian mercenaries were also killed. Germany contributed 235 mercenaries, with 88 of them perishing. 

Not only American troops but also the CIA 

According to US Defense Department documents leaked in March 2023, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby refused to verify the number but validated “a small US military presence” there.

A recent The New York Times report based on interviews with more than 200 current and former officials showed that there were “scores”, at least more than 40, of CIA officers in Ukraine.

In a transcript of a February 19 conversation between senior German Air Force officials, one official stated, “It's known that there are numerous people there in civilian attire who speak with an American accent.”

It further exposed that there are UK personnel on the ground. One official, amid discussions on how German Taurus long-range missiles could function in Ukraine, revealed that the Germans “know how the English do it. . .. They have several people on-site."

The British prime minister’s office has verified that the UK has soldiers on the ground saying "Beyond the small number of personnel we do have in the country supporting the armed forces of Ukraine, we haven't got any plans for large-scale deployment."

Russia, since 2022, has repeatedly warned the US and its Western allies, including France, against partaking in the war, emphasizing that it will defend itself in any way possible. It also stressed that the West and NATO have been playing a direct role by continuously aiding Ukraine with advanced weapons and military equipment. 

Read next: Putin: A Champion of the Global South?