MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. Moscow expects that the death of French nationals likely engaged in fighting as mercenaries in Ukraine will spark the French public to reflect on the dangerous policy that Paris is pursuing vis-a-vis the conflict, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

"We hope that the incident [involving the deaths of several French nationals in Ukraine] will make the French public think carefully about whether its leadership’s counterproductive and dangerous policy towards the conflict in Ukraine is appropriate," she noted, commenting on accusations against Russia after two French citizens had been killed and three more suffered wounds in Ukraine.

"While expressing outrage at the death of their fellow countrymen, French leaders are turning a blind eye to the fact that the weapons they provide [to Ukraine] are deliberately used by the Kiev regime to kill civilians in Russian cities," Zakharova stressed. "Moreover, Paris even cited the right to self-defense, trying to justify these atrocities," she added.

"Without going into the details of the incident that we are unaware of, I would say that any loss of life is always a tragedy," Zakharova said. "However, the French authorities have been stubbornly reluctant to recognize the fatal role that Paris, along with other Western capitals, has been playing in breeding the Ukrainian crisis since 2014, and indulging the regime in Kiev, which was killing its own civilians in Donbass for eight years," she pointed out.

The diplomat also emphasized that France continued contributing to keeping the Kiev clique afloat, "particularly by sending lethal weapons and training Ukrainian soldiers." "We have repeatedly said that France’s increasing involvement in the Ukrainian conflict is not only prolonging it, adding to tensions, but is also endangering the lives of French nationals who, swayed by anti-Russian propaganda, travel to the combat zone as mercenaries or volunteers with the tacit consent of the authorities in Paris," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said.