Diesel the Paris police dog: Russian police offer to replace dog that died in Saint-Denis raid

Puppy Dobrynya will be handed over 'in solidarity with French people and the police in the fight against terrorism'

Police named the dog killed in Wednesday's raid as Diesel (Police Nationale)

The Russian police will give a police dog to the French forces to express their solidarity in their fight against terrorism.

The announcement was made on the Russian police Facebook page today, two days after thousands of people paid tributes to Diesel, the seven-year-old Belgian Malinois who was shot by an extremists during the raid in Saint-Denis on Wednesday.

The Russian-born dog called Dobrynya after a legendary Russian hero will be “handed over to France to replace Diesel and in solidarity with French people and the police in the fight against terrorism” states the post on Facebook.

In Russian folklore, Dobrynya is a knight which embodies the forces of good, military prowess and selflessness.

The French Ministry of the Interior was unaware of the announcement an hour after it was made public on social media.

The Russian gift to the French police comes after a viral Twitter trend of tributes to French dog Diesel, which was shot dead as police raided a flat, where Paris attacks mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud was in hiding.

Этого щенка служебной собаки зовут Добрыня. Его назвали так в честь русского былинного богатыря Добрыни, который являетс...

Posted by МВД России on Friday, 20 November 2015

On Wednesday, the French National Police announced the death of the hero dog in a Tweet, which has been retweeted 16,000 times.

The hashtag #JeSuisChien (I am dog) and later #JeSuisDiesel trended on social media following the announcement.

Wednesday’s raid in a flat in Saint-Denis followed a French operation to find Abdelhamid Abaaoud, the mastermind of the Paris attacks which killed 130 people last Friday.

The raid resulted in three deaths, including Abdelhamid Abaaoud, and his cousin Hasna Aitboulahcen, who blew herself up.

Eight people have also been arrested.