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Would French instructors become targets in Ukraine?
Summary
A look back at Moscow's warnings to NATO states over military support for Kyiv in early June 2024.
Would French military instructors in Ukraine be fair game for Russian forces? On 4 June 2024, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said they would, warning that any French instructors deployed to Ukraine would be "legitimate targets".
The warning came two days after Russia accused NATO and the United States of provoking a new level of tension. That accusation, made on 2 June 2024, followed a decision by some allies to let Ukraine's military use Western-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia.
Taken together, the two statements showed Moscow framing Western military aid to Kyiv as a matter of direct confrontation with NATO members. Lavrov's remark singled out France and a possible instructor deployment, while the earlier accusation addressed the alliance and Washington more broadly.
