A team of 16 French gendarmes arrived in Ukraine on Monday, April 11. They will be taken to the Ukrainian capital Kiev from Tuesday. They go research into the victims of the conflict and stays on the ground the war launched by Russia 47 days ago for a ” undetermined time “†
Who are they and why were these gendarmes sent to Ukraine by France? We explain it to you.
“Identification specialists”
Their primary mission to identify the victims and determine the causes of their deaths, explained to theAFP General Patrick Touron, commander of the judicial pool of the gendarmerie.
“This team of sixteen gendarmes from the Criminal Research Institute of the National Gendarmerie (IRCGN) consists essentially of identification specialists, reinforced by two ballisticians and an explosives specialist.”he detailed.
The French team is one “one of the few technical constructions in Europe that can project itself into the operating area in two hours”†
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He also assured that the duration of the mission was still unknown, but that if it went ahead, relief would be provided.
“We are here for the victims, to help the families find their loved ones, to examine the bodies to determine the causes of death”the general insisted, emphasizing that it was a matter of cooperation between France and Ukraine.
Seven vehicles and a mobile laboratory
From Tuesday, April 12, the team will be in Kiev, the site of their mission “for the time being,” General Patrick Touron said. On the spot they will “under the supervision of the Ukrainian security forces” and will work with their Ukrainian counterparts.
With them, these gendarmes took a mobile laboratory for DNA analysis. It also has seven vehicles, including a truck with twelve “cold burial chambers” to preserve autopsy bodies.
With this equipment, this team can work completely independently. They are equipped with means to be supplied with electricity.
On the sidelines of the International Criminal Court’s investigation
Then he said, “an international structure will be set up as other countries send teams to the area” to participate in the identification and investigation of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into “war crimes” committed in Ukraine.
This was confirmed by the Ukrainian judiciary on Sunday 1,222 people have been killed in the Kiev region since the beginning of the invasion, without specifying whether they were just civilians.
On Friday, President Emmanuel Macron said that: France was working on “gather the evidence” versus “Russian War Crimes” in Ukraine and had announced the deployment of French gendarmes and magistrates to the country.
