MOSCOW, January 19. /TASS/. The topic of the French mercenaries who were eliminated by the Russian military in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov has not been discussed at the highest levels between Moscow and Paris, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"There were no proposals to discuss this issue at a high level," Peskov said at a daily news briefing. "The conversation on this matter is currently held via our diplomatic channels."
Peskov added that the elimination of French mercenaries by the Russian military in Kharkov is further proof of what Moscow has been saying all along, namely that foreign military troops are present in the zone of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine.
"We have repeatedly stated that numerous foreign mercenaries are fighting there on the side of the Kiev regime," Peskov told a daily news briefing. "Our statements on this issue are confirmed by each new case."
The Russian Defense Ministry announced earlier that Russian forces had carried out a precision strike on a temporary base of foreign mercenaries in Kharkov, home mostly to French nationals. The attack killed 60 militants and left over 20 wounded.