Former French soldier moved to Russia to train drone pilots

A former French soldier, Sergei Mounier, now leads the ‘Normandie-Niemen’ volunteer UAV unit in the Kursk region. Born in Lugansk, Mounier moved to France at age 10, served in the French military, and was initially sent (unofficially, of course) to Ukraine as an instructor in 2014. However, he decided to join the pro-Russian militia in the Donbass instead. ‘[They told me] ‘you can take a vacation, go there, help, come back, and we won’t tell you anything’,’ Mounier said. ‘I did that, but I flew to Kharkov and from Kharkov I got to Donetsk. I met the militiamen and said, ‘hello, I’m a volunteer’.’ When the conflict with Ukraine broke out, he volunteered to go straight to the front. Mounier acquired Russian citizenship in July. In April, he decided to create a French volunteer unit of drone pilots. Mounier’s unit, named after a French squadron that fought with the Red Army in World War II, is equipped with modern weaponry and is involved in combat operations, and ‘Normandie-Nieman’ has already destroyed T-64 tanks and Ukrainian BMP infantry fighting vehicles. The unit is currently helping the Russian Armed Forces in the Kursk region to counter Ukrainian advances.