Russia gives puppy to France to replace police dog killed in raid

Russian police have handed over a puppy to the French ambassador in Moscow to replace a French police dog killed in a raid, a show of solidarity with France in the aftermath of the Paris attacks.

Diesel, the 7-year-old Belgian shepherd killed in a French police raid targeting the suspected mastermind of the Paris attacks in November, has been honoured all over the world.

On Monday, Russia's Interior Ministry gave the German shepherd puppy named Dobrynya after a Russian fairy-tale knight to French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert.

Ripert praised the gift as "a gesture that comes from the heart," adding that "it shows the relations between Russia and France quite well."