Russia's Defense Ministry issued a report Thursday which said its forces have killed nearly 6,000 foreign mercenaries and volunteers fighting on behalf of Ukraine since the war began over two years ago.
The report claimed that in total 13,387 "foreign mercenaries" from multiple dozens of countries have fought in Ukraine, and offered a remarkably specific breakdown of nationalities. International press outlets underscored that it was impossible to independently verify the claims.
Russian Defense Ministry releases stats on foreign mercenaries in Ukraine
— Russian Market (@runews) March 14, 2024
The MoD says that since February 24, 2022, 13,387 mercenaries arrived in Ukraine. 5,962 of them have been confirmed killed in action.
Poland remains the largest source of mercenary power for Kiev, with… pic.twitter.com/YQEUraWuYh
Notably Russia claimed an astounding number of American mercenary deaths, putting the number killed from the United States at 491. The number of fighters killed who hailed from Britain was listed at 360, and Canada - 422, another surprisingly high figure according to the claims. But the Russian MoD's tally of Polish foreign fighters was by far the largest group - at 1,497 out of 2,690 fighters said to have been killed.
Within the first year of the Russian invasion, it was especially then UK Prime Minister Liz Truss who openly encouraged British and Western fighters to go volunteer to fight for Ukraine.
The US too at the time openly allowed recruitment efforts by Ukraine's international/foreign legion through online advertising including social media and large platforms like Facebook.
However, as the war tragically turned into a 'meat grinder' and stalled front lines, Western officials seemed to back off their active encouragement for individuals to travel to Ukraine to fight.
Since then, periodically Russia has claimed to have killed or taken prisoner American or UK citizens. Overall, the whole initiative didn't go well as stories like the below demonstrate...
The Gregg family is laying direct blame on then Prime Minister Truss:
A young British man who took his own life after fighting in Ukraine went to the country after Liz Truss, the former prime minister, claimed anyone who did so would be joining a “battle for democracy”, his family said.
Harry Gregg was 23 and had no formal military training other than a spell in the Army Cadets when he decided to fly to the country after it was invaded by Russia in 2022.
He ended up fighting in the trenches, where he witnessed the deaths of fellow soldiers and reported seeing the aftermath of Russian atrocities against civilians.
He was found hanged after returning to his home in Thetford, Norfolk, the day after his 25th birthday.
Speaking after his inquest at Norfolk Coroner’s Court last week, his family said his decision to go to Ukraine came after the former prime minister, who was his local MP and foreign secretary at the time, said she “absolutely” supported any Britons who wanted to travel to fight the Russians, arguing they would be joining a battle “for democracy”.
An example of a CBS headline during the early months of the war...
More recently, the Kremlin has claimed large numbers of French mercenaries are active in Ukraine, especially near Russia's border in Kharkiv. Paris has rejected the claims. At the same time, Russia too has been known to deploy foreign fighter in its ranks, but numbers are unknown.
