Foreign Legion soldiers might not be legally defined as 'French troops', perhaps...?

I'd expect some sick, legalistic weaseling here, to be honest...

Yea...though I think they ARE officially classed as part of the French military...but as
of Foreign origin they are usefully expendable without impacting the French home vote.

Sputnik reports the possibility that some have already died near Chasov Yar:

"The French Foreign Legion dispatched to Ukraine has possibly sustained its first personnel losses, military correspondent Boris Rozhin stated on Telegram.
The mercenaries could have lost up to seven people in clashes with the Russian military near Chasov Yar, he wrote. The city in the Donetsk People’s Republic is currently under Kiev’s control, but the situation there is getting increasingly precarious for Ukraine’s forces.
These are no longer “TikTok soldiers” who came to Ukraine to earn a fast buck, but fled at the first threat they encountered, underscored Rozhin. He added that now "highly trained, professional military personnel of NATO countries” had entered the fray.
According to the military correspondent, the first reports of the arrival of foreign fighters in Chasov Yar, obtained by radio interception, surfaced about a month ago."

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240506/french-foreign-legion-possibly-racked-up-first-losses-in-ukraine---report-1118283980.html