Moscow ready to strike French troops as UK sends Kyiv 1,000 drones

Moscow: Russia is ready to strike French troops if they are sent to Ukraine to help train Kyiv’s soldiers, the Kremlin has suggested.

Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi said French trainers would come to Ukraine “soon” last week, which was downplayed by both Paris and Kyiv.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said: “No instructor involved in training the Ukrainian military has immunity. It doesn’t matter whether they’re French or not.”

In February, French president Emmanuel Macron said the situation in Ukraine was “dynamic” and nothing could be ruled out.

It comes as Britain is seeking to send 1,000 first-person view drones to Ukraine as part of an international support coalition.

The appeal, worth £300,000, calls for the procurement of up to 15 batches of 20 “first-person view racing quadcopter style drones”.

Meanwhile, Russian sources claimed that Ukraine fired American weapons at Belgorod for the first time after Washington lifted a ban on Kyiv using its weapons inside Russia.

The Ukrainians reportedly fired the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, at bordering Belgorod city, Russia’s defence ministry and military bloggers said.