France's Foreign Ministry Has Summoned Russia's Ambassador Over French Aid Workers Killed in Ukraine

The French foreign ministry said that it summoned Russia’s ambassador to France on Monday over the deaths of two French nationals working for nongovernmental organizations in Ukraine.

The humanitarian workers were killed in Russian strikes on Thursday near the front line of fighting in the war in Ukraine north of the Dnipro River. Three other French nationals were wounded in the strikes.

A day after the strikes, French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “Russian barbarity has targeted civilians in Ukraine … Russia will have to answer for its crimes.”

The French aid workers were killed in the town of Beryslav in the southern Kherson region, Gov. Oleksandr Prokudin said. French President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to visit Kyiv in the next few weeks, denounced the attack as “cowardly and outrageous.”

The French foreign ministry said that officials would also use the summoning of Russia’s ambassador to “denounce the resurgence of disinformation targeting France.”