 Russia claims first destruction of SAMP-T missile, France denies. The French Ministry of Defense has declared another disinformation attack by Russia, specifically refuting Russian media claims about the supposed destruction of the SAMP-T air defence system in Ukraine according to Le Monde. Russia claimed that on January 16th it targeted a building in Kharkiv where allegedly French mercenaries fighting against Russian terrorists on the side of Ukraine were located. However, no evidence was provided to support this claim. The French Ministry of Defense emphasised that there are no French mercenaries in Ukraine or elsewhere. Sebastian Le Corneau, the Minister of the Armed Forces of France, said that, unlike other countries, France does not use mercenaries. He condemned and increased monitoring of such manipulations, anticipating that Russia's disinformation manoeuvres would continue in light of the increased French military assistance to Ukraine. The Russian media's claim about the destruction of the Franco-Italian SAMP-T air defence system delivered to Ukraine was also dismissed by France. The French authorities could not confirm this information and warned about Russia's attempts to spread fakes. The SAMP-T system is an anti-missile system designed to protect the battlefield and critical objects from cruise missiles, piloted and unmanned aerial vehicles, and tactical ballistic missiles. Developed by the European consortium EuroSAMP, SAMP-T can destroy aerodynamic targets up to 150km away at an altitude of up to 25km. It can counter ballistic missiles at a range of up to 25km.