Russian investigators are conducting an inquiry into foreigners fighting on the side of Ukraine, with more than 150 people involved, the Investigative Committee reported on its Telegram channel.
“Cooperating with the Russian Ministry of Defense and other state bodies, evidence was collected against mercenaries from Georgia, the US, Latvia, Sweden and other countries. The prosecution of 160 foreigners from 33 states is underway,” the report said.
According to a statement by the committee in late May, more than 2,000 people from all over the world are fighting on the side of Ukraine.
Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that there were reasons to suspect some countries of sending military officers to Kiev disguised as mercenaries.
According to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, over 8,000 people from more than 60 countries in total had joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces as of November 2022. Despite the fact that mercenarism is prohibited by law in many countries, the largest groups came from Poland, the US, Canada, Romania, and the UK.