PARIS, February 3. /TASS/. The French anti-terrorist prosecutor's office has started an investigation into the deaths of two of the country’s nationals in Ukraine, AFP reported.

The investigation was started in connection with accusations of war crimes and "deliberately endangering a person protected by international humanitarian law," according to the report. The news service said this is the 10th case related to the Ukrainian conflict that is being pursued by the Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity of the French National Gendarmerie.

French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne earlier said on X that two French nationals, whom he described as humanitarian workers, were killed in Ukraine. French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his condolences over the deaths, writing on X that it was a result of a "Russian strike."

The Russian Defense Ministry earlier said the Russian Armed Forces on January 16 carried out a precision strike on a base of foreign militants in Kharkov, with most of the mercenaries being French. As a result of the strike, more than 60 militants were killed and more than 20 wounded. After that, the French ambassador to Moscow, Pierre Levy, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and was told that the deaths of the French were on the conscience of official Paris.