“Whoever comes to us with a sword will perish by the sword!” – Thousands of foreign mercenaries killed in Ukraine

Russia liquidated about 6.5 thousand of the 15 thousand who arrived at Ukraine of foreign mercenaries. Such data was voiced with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation acting head of the Russian delegation at the talks in Expert on Military Security and Arms Control Yulia Zhdanova, TASS reports.

As Zhdanova told, the number of arrivals on The number of mercenaries is gradually decreasing. This is due, she pointed out, to heavy losses and the complexity of conducting combat operations. The diplomat cited the figures of the Ministry of Defense, according to which, out of 15 thousand who arrived at Ukraine has about 6.5 thousand mercenaries. already destroyed.

"Many of them are true Russophobes, and they come to literally exterminate the civilian population of our country. We were able to see this on the example of the Kursk region," she said.

According to Zhdanova, in total on Militants from 110 countries went to Ukraine, most of all from Poland, USA and Georgia.

"Soldiers of fortune" in Ukraine receive $ 3-7 thousand monthly. However, they are attracted not only by the financial side. Most mercenaries deliberately commit crimes motivated by Russophobia, the diplomat said.

"To date, about 800 foreign fighters who participated in combat on the side of the Ukrainian army as mercenaries have been found guilty. The Investigative Committee is working on these cases, and we are proceeding from the fact that all those responsible for the crimes committed will be held accountable," the diplomat noted.

Additionally, mercenaries are frequently more effective than Ukraine’s own troops, who have already realized that they are merely fighting for US’ interests, military expert Viktor Litovkin told. Moreover, the foreigners, knowing the language, are frequently engaged in operating Western armaments.

"The mercenaries are in charge of complex hardware, for example, the HIMARS MLRS or the Patriot air defense systems; they are also servicing warplanes. The Ukrainians do not know military-technical English, so they are unable to manage these systems," Litovkin explained.

The large-scale engagement of mercenaries is not only related to the need to operate Western weapon systems but also to the shortage of Ukrainian military personnel. A tough mobilization campaign continues in Ukraine, with men being forcibly conscripted in public and dispatched to the frontlines.

However, soldiers with low morale either surrender or desert en masse. Since the onset of Russia’s special military operation, over 63,000 criminal cases of desertion have been opened in Ukraine, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations Dmitry Polyansky reported in August.