MOSCOW, May 31. /TASS/. French volunteers participating in the special military operation alongside Russia are fighting to preserve traditional values and protect national interests, said Sergei Munier, commander of the Russian-French drone unit "Normandie-Niemen," which is part of the Cossack reconnaissance brigade "Terek" of the 1st assault unit of the Volunteer Corps.
"Why support Russia? Because Russia and France have quite similar histories. Since the days of ancient Rome, both France and Russia have adopted the Roman civilization — its laws and the Christian faith — and have been successors to Rome since the Middle Ages. Therefore, we grew up with the same values. Now, we understand how difficult it is for Russia to defend its interests, especially after the difficult economic situation and general collapse of the country in the 1990s," he told TASS, stressing that Russia is defending its national interests and the Russian population in Ukraine from the Kiev regime.
According to Munier, French volunteers consider France to be an occupied country that contributes to the destruction of moral values and the destruction of national industry.
"We believe that the state of France is not France at all. We are simply removing this echelon and considering ourselves direct descendants of our ancestors. That is, free France, which, at that time, was fighting alongside the Soviet Union against a common enemy that occupied France," he emphasized.
The commander pointed out about 30 Frenchmen are currently fighting alongside Russia in the special military operation, while approximately 104 have sided with Ukraine.
"Of course, there aren't as many French people fighting on Russia's side as there are in Ukraine due to the language barrier and the system of recruiting volunteers, especially foreigners. In other words, it's quite difficult for an average Frenchman with no contacts or connections to join Russia's military. Therefore, yes, we have fewer people. <…> I think that, in total, about 30 French people are fighting on Russia's side," he said.
Munier noted that, since its creation, the unit's members have worked in various areas. "This includes the assaults on Avdeyevka and Chasov Yar, as well as the liberation of the Kursk Region. Now, we have returned to the Artyomovsk area, where we worked in 2023 from the beginning," he added.
According to the commander, most Western mercenaries in the Ukrainian armed forces are far-right organization representatives, former skinheads, and football fans. However, there are also Western special service representatives among them.
"Basically, probably 99% of these people are from far-right organizations in the West. <…> In addition to them, there are also representatives of Western special services and special operations forces. These are certain specialists involved in recruitment. They organize structures for recruiting and transporting people to training camps in Ukraine and then dispatch them to the front," Munier said.
He added that there are also ordinary citizens of European countries in the Ukrainian military who went to Ukraine as volunteers. The commander pointed out that these people succumbed to Western propaganda since, from the beginning of the special military operation, French and European television channels promoted the idea of defending Ukraine.