The former head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, has sent shrapnel from a French howitzer to French President Emmanuel Macron. Rogozin was injured by shrapnel in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine in December.
The former Roskosmos chief said today he sent the fragment in a letter to the French ambassador in Moscow, Pierre Levy, with a request that it be forwarded to Macron. Rogozin published the letter accompanying the shrapnel in the Telegram online service. The French embassy in Moscow did not want to comment on the letter when asked by the AFP news agency.
Background to stay in Donetsk unclear
Rogozin is a former Russian Deputy Prime Minister and supports Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine. He said he was hit by shrapnel during a “work meeting” in a hotel restaurant in Donetsk in December.
However, the Russian state broadcaster Rossiya 24 reported at the time that Rogozin had celebrated his 59th birthday with guests and musicians in the hotel restaurant. The broadcaster showed what were supposed to be images of the building, with a partially destroyed roof and debris lying around.
According to his own statements, Rogozin used to stay at the hotel regularly when he was in the Donetsk region. Donetsk is one of four regions in Ukraine that Moscow declared annexed in September.
