MOSCOW • Russia has offered to send an Alsatian puppy to France in a gesture of solidarity after a police dog was killed during a raid on militants linked to the Paris attacks.

Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev said yesterday that he had written to his French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve offering to send a puppy named Dobrynya to replace Diesel, a Belgian Shepherd.

The fluffy dog is named after a hero of Russian folk legend, Dobrynya Nikitch, famed for his strength, goodness and courage, he added.

French prosecutors said on Friday that three people - not two as initially thought - died during the raid on Wednesday in Saint Denis, north of Paris - suspected mastermind Abdelhamid Abaaoud, his cousin Hasna Aitboulahcen and a suicide bomber who has yet to be identified.

Seven people arrested during the raid were freed yesterday.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE