As of: March 15, 2024, 6:18 p.m
By: Lisa Mahnke
Comments
Press
Split
Moscow keeps a list of foreign military equipment and volunteers.
Especially to record deaths and conquests.
Can you believe the statistics?
Moscow – The Russian Defense Ministry is not only closely tracking how much foreign military equipment has allegedly already been confiscated or destroyed.
Accurate statistics are also kept on the killing of foreign volunteers in the Ukrainian Foreign Legions.
According to the latest statistics from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Russian army has reportedly killed 5,962 foreign volunteers on the Ukrainian side since the start of the Ukraine War.
That’s a little less than half of the 13,387 “foreign mercenaries” who have fought for Ukraine since the war began.
In the Defense Ministry's Telegram post, sorted by origin, Polish volunteers made up the majority, with an alleged 1,497 deaths out of 2,690 fighters overall.
After that, 561 dead volunteers come from Georgia, 491 from the USA and 422 from Canada.
Germany is in eighth place on the list with a reported 88 dead volunteers.
The information cannot be independently confirmed.
Actual size of Ukraine's Foreign Legion unclear - Russia also resorts to mercenaries
Shortly after the start of the war, Zelensky began to create an international legion for volunteer fighters.
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to all foreign citizens who are friends of Ukraine.
Anyone who wants to take part in defending security in Europe and the world can come and fight shoulder to shoulder with Ukrainians against the invaders of the 21st century,” the president's statement said.
The actual number of soldiers in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion is unclear - as is the number of deaths.
© GENYA SAVILOV / AFP
The best-known foreign units are probably the “Freedom of Russia” Legion, which recently made headlines for alleged territorial seizures in southern Russia, the Georgian Legion and the Belarusian Kastus-Kalinouski Regiment.
It is unclear how many soldiers actually fight in the Foreign Legions.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba said in March 2022 that over 20,000 volunteers from 52 countries had signed up.
He did not say how many of the people actually arrived in Ukraine.
A
New York Times
investigation suggested that the actual number of volunteer fighters was much lower, estimated at around 1,500.
There have also been increasing reports of the use of foreign fighters on the Russian side, for example from China.
A particularly prominent case was in which a group of Indian men were said to have been lured into the Russian military.
Last month, Russia set up an 18,000-man volunteer corps that included Wagner mercenaries as well as volunteer soldiers from all sorts of countries.
(lismah)