Tension is still rising between Paris and Moscow. Nothing is going well between France and Russia. Paris has identified a “coordinated maneuver” by Moscow to spread false information, such as the alleged presence of French “mercenaries” fighting for kyiv in Ukraine, the Ministry of the Armed Forces announced on Friday. “Relevant state services have identified and are following Russia’s coordinated maneuver, including by pro-Russian information networks and state media such as Sputnik News, RT and RIA Novosti, to relay and amplify these false information,” according to the press release.
The spokesperson for Russian diplomacy, Maria Zakharova, responded on Friday by castigating Emmanuel Macron’s “militarist frenzy” after recent announcements of military aid to kyiv. Addressing the French president, she said: “You will not be able to stop us on the path to victory!”
Vladimir Putin accuses kyiv of having shot down a plane in Belgorod. Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that it was “glaring” that the Il-76 military transport plane, which crashed in the border area on Wednesday, had been shot down by Ukrainian forces. The aircraft crashed near the Russian village of Yablonovo, 45 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. Russian authorities say the crash killed 74 people, including 65 Ukrainian prisoners who were being transferred for an exchange with kyiv.
“The intelligence services of the Ukrainian army knew that we were carrying 65 soldiers (Ukrainian, editor’s note) on board. They shot him down, by mistake or on purpose, but they did it,” he told Russian students during his first comment on the crash. “Either way it’s a crime.”
Two Russians accused of “high treason”. The Russian security services (FSB) announced on Friday the arrest of two Russians accused of having provided intelligence to Ukraine, in particular on the positions of Moscow’s forces on the battlefield. Since the start of the conflict, almost two years ago, the authorities have increased the number of arrests of individuals suspected of collaborating with kyiv.
The two people, whose identities have not been released, were arrested in Rostov-on-Don, a southern city close to the border with Ukraine and which has become an operational center for Russian forces. Suspected of “high treason”, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison, they were placed in pre-trial detention, Russian security services said in a statement.