Russia says it has killed nearly 2,000 foreign militants in Ukraine

The Russian military said on Friday that less than 7,000 “foreign mercenaries” from 64 countries had arrived in Ukraine since the conflict began, killing nearly 2,000 of them.

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“As of June 17, our lists include mercenaries and weapons experts from a total of 64 countries. Since the start of the special military operation, 6,956 people have arrived in Ukraine, 1,956 have already been evacuated and 1,779 have been evacuated, ”the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

The Russian ministry adds that Poland is the “absolute leader” in European countries in terms of militants coming to Ukraine, followed by Romania and Britain.

According to the report, the number of foreign fighters who visited Ukraine and the casualties recorded by the Russian military are classified on a national basis.

For example, he promises that 59 French “mercenaries” out of 183 who came to fight have been killed since the beginning of the Russian offensive. According to Moscow, the highest death toll was in Poland (378 dead), the United States (214), Canada (162) and Georgia (120).

Since the start of Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine on February 24, thousands of foreign volunteers, mainly Europeans, have traveled to the country to assist forces in Kiev.

Russia presents these militants as “mercenaries”, a derogatory term that claims to be motivated by a desire for profit.

Pro-Russian separatists sentenced three of them to death, two to Britain and one to Morocco.

For their part, if Ukraine and its Western allies are mercenaries, they point out that they are on the Russian side, especially in the presence of elements of the Wagner group, who have sent lucky soldiers from Syria to Libya via Mali. .