The family and friends ofAdrien Dugay-Leyoudec finish taking their place inside the Clermont-Ferrand crematorium. On this afternoon of Monday, July 18, perhaps 200 came to say goodbye to the young 20-year-old French fighter, who died three weeks earlier in the Kharkiv region. Lhe funeral opens with a few musical notes, and not just any: it’s the Ukrainian anthem, Shtche ne vmerla Ukraïna, which resonates inside the building located rue Jean-Auguste Senèze. Another detail:on the coffin of the deceased, vsis the blue and yellow flag that was ddelicately posed, reports a witness to franceinfo.
In the assembly, we also meet the moved gaze of Ukrainian refugees, who arrived in Puy-de-Dôme at the start of the war. But it is another presence that is especially intriguing: a man, in khaki military uniform, kepi on his head, has just sat down in the front row. According to our information, he is a member of the military office of the Ukrainian embassy in France. The officer, who traveled from Paris, is also one of the very first to get up to speak in hesitant French. A two-minute speech, read in front of the parents ofAdrien Dugay-Leyoudec, to tell them how “commitment” of their son, whom he paid for with his life, will forever mark the history of his country.
Those present that day remember a vibrant tribute. Nothing to see with the simple words of “condolences” that the Quai d’Orsay will pronounce in its regard. If the Frankalways “formally” not recommended for its nationals “tany trip to Ukraine taking into account the obvious risks and whatever the reason given”, kyiv considers foreign fighters as its own. After all, it was President Volodymyr Zelensky himself who called for volunteers from all countries to join the International Legion in Defense of Ukraine from the first days of the war against Russia.
Contacted by franceinfo, the prefecture of Puy-de-Dôme claims not to have been kept informed of the arrival of this Ukrainian officer, at the crematorium of Clermont-Ferrand. 600 kilometers away, in the corridors of the Calvados prefecture, we also seem to have discovered after the fact that a Ukrainian army attaché had come to attend the funeral of Wilfried Blériot, 32 years old, first French falls in combat in Ukraine. There is there no preferential treatment: “We try to offer it to all families”, whether French or foreign, says Damien Magrou, spokesperson for the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine.
/2022/07/27/phpBKiuht.jpg)
Communication is also managed by Ukraine and not by France. Thus, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs will learn of the death in combat of its two nationals via its embassy based in kyiv, which itself obtained the information from the Ukrainian authorities. It is also through a first email signed by the military office of the Ukrainian embassy in France, and to which franceinfo had access, that Adrien Dugay-Leyoudec’s parents were informed in June that their son was “treated in a military hospital in Kharkiv” after having been hurt “in a Russian mortar attack on June 1, 2022”.
It is still the Ukrainian authorities who “formally identify the body”, confirms the Quai d’Orsay to franceinfo. In the field, “a death certificate is drawn up by the commander of the unit in which the victim was, details Damien Magrou. The body is then transported to a morgue. There, a death certificate is drawn up according to Ukrainian law.” It is also to the teams of the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine, always in the name of the Ukrainian State, that falls the painful task of informing the families of foreigners who died in combat.
“As I speak Frenchsays Damien Magrou, it was I who announced it to Wilfried’s relatives [Blériot] and Adrian [Dugay-Leyoudec]. It’s a phone call that’s not easy. We don’t know if the family supported them in their commitment.”
“It warms the heart to then receive words of thanks from the families, words of support for Ukraine, for the Legion, for the work we do.”
Damien Magrou, spokesperson for the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraineat franceinfo
In kyiv also to organize the repatriation of the bodies to France, “in connection with the French Embassy in kyiv”, as well as “the Crisis and Support Center of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (…) given that it is a theater of war”specifies the Quai d’Orsay.
On average, “The repatriation of bodies takes between ten and thirty days in Europe. CThey are private companies that take care of the transport”, describes Damien Magrou. The costs are entirely borne by Ukraine, precisely by the Ministry of Defense, confirms an official source. Not the funeral expenses, on the other hand, which are the responsibility of the family.
Moral support, logistical support therefore. And financial support too. Lhe families of foreign fighters can, in the same way as Ukrainian soldiers, receive financial compensation if their loved one dies. It’s mentioned in the second paragraph. (in Ukrainian) of this official decree on “the social and legal protection of servicemen and their family members”. Dated February 28, four days after the start of the war, it is written that a “benefit of a single amount of 15 millionhryvnya”, i.e. 400,000 euros, “will be paid in equal shares to all beneficiaries”. It is a sum “fixed”, “regardless of the fighter’s country of origin or rank”, confirms to franceinfo an official Ukrainian source. Which specifies that “The mechanism is being put in place little by little”.
“In our legislation, foreign citizens who serve in the Ukrainian army are aligned with the Ukrainian military.”
An official Ukrainian state sourceat franceinfo
Recently, employees of the Ukrainian Embassy in France noticed that relatives of Wilfried Blériot had come to lay a wreath in front of their premises, based in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. “After the war, if the bereaved families want to come to Ukraine, to see with their eyes where their sons died, there too we will be there to accompany them, it is very important for us”promises this official source of the Ukrainian state.
While waiting for the bombs to fall silent, David Dugay, Adrien’s father, wants to reiterate how much his son “was not an extraordinary person”. “He was an idealistic and courageous young man”he wrote in an email sent to franceinfo. “Fighting Putin was fighting totalitarianism, it was fighting in Ukraine before war came to us.” On July 18, in the crematorium of Clermont-Ferrand, the Ukrainian officer rose a second time at the end of the ceremony. He approached the coffin, grabbed the Ukrainian flag, folded it carefully. Before handing it over to the parents ofAdrien Dugay-Leyoudec.