MOSCOW, January 22. /TASS/. Lawmakers inside the Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament, have called on their French counterparts to initiate a parliamentary probe into the presence of French mercenaries in Ukraine.

"State Duma lawmakers think it principally important to call on lawmakers of France’ National Assembly to immediately initiate a parliamentary investigation into the participation of French citizens in the Kiev regime’s criminal actions in order to prevent any form of mercenary activity in Ukraine," according to a draft appeal to the French lawmakers, which was posted on the State Duma electronic database.

Earlier, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin announced plans to issue such an appeal to the French parliament, pointing to the fact that mercenarism is prohibited in France. In his words, it is important for Russian lawmakers to know whether their French colleagues are aware of the fact that "someone is sending militants to Ukraine in violation of the law."

The Russian Defense Ministry said earlier that Russian forces had dealt a pinpoint strike on a temporary deployment center for foreign militants in Kharkov. According to the ministry, most of the foreign mercenaries were French nationals. As a result of the strike, 60 militants were killed and more than 20 were wounded.

When asked to comment on Russia’s statements, the French Foreign Ministry only said that there were no French mercenaries in Ukraine and refrained from either confirming or refuting reports about the death of its nationals. French Armed Forces Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on January 19 that a democratic country could not bar its nationals from voluntarily traveling to Ukraine to fight for Kiev. He stressed that such a ban could not be applied if the citizens in question were not career officers or affiliated with French military institutions.