
Frenchmen in the ranks of the Ukrainian army
The French media do not hide the fact that French citizens have been fighting in the International Legion of the Ukrainian army for several years now (see the left
photo above).
As for the legal status of these citizens, the French government vehemently objects to the description of them as "mercenaries".
But if by mercenaries we mean people who privately participate in a military conflict in a foreign country for money, then these citizens of France should be called mercenaries, see the
quote below:
...according to the recruitment website for the International Legion of the Defense of Ukraine, compensation corresponds to the "standard salary of a Ukrainian serviceman." It ranges from $550 per month for positions away from the front lines to $4,800 per month for combat deployments, not including possible bonuses.
Among these Frenchmen there are many representatives of extreme right-wing groups; see above on the right the photo of Karel Scherel-Salzburg with the SS symbol Totenkopf.
Mr Cherel-Salzburg was
sentenced in absentia to prison for his role in the attack on the Hopopop café in Nantes by far-right activists in 2019, but was not sent to prison because he fought in the International Legion until the end of 2023.
This summer, Libération published a short story on its YouTube channel too dedicated to the service of French neo-Nazis in the Ukrainian army.
The involvement of the French far right in the fighting in Ukraine is raising concerns within France.
In an
article published in May of this year on the website of France Info, one of those interviewed told reporters:
For me, these guys who went to fight in Ukraine are just as dangerous as those Frenchmen who went to fight in Syria on the side of ISIS.
The material goes on to say:
Some warn of the dangers of transferring military skills to France... According to Nouvel Obs , in January 2024, two French citizens were detained upon returning from Ukraine and convicted of possession of weapons.
And finally, I can provide information about how foreign military personnel are treated in Ukraine.
A sniper who previously served in the French Foreign Legion and then fought in Ukraine told a correspondent for the
newspaper L'Indépendant this spring:
He returned from Ukraine traumatized, having lost 18 friends. He also felt some bitterness about "the attitude of Ukrainians toward those who went there to die for them. They prefer that foreigners die instead of them. And that's not good."