MOSCOW, April 7. /TASS/. Russian investigators have obtained a list of nearly 600 mercenaries who arrived in Ukraine from 47 countries, the Russian Investigative Committee said in a statement on Thursday following a meeting in Donetsk chaired by the committee’s head Alexander Bastrykin.

"A report on an investigation into foreign mercenaries’ involvement in the armed conflict was presented to Bastrykin. As of today, investigators have a list of nearly 600 such individuals who arrived in Ukraine from 47 countries," the statement reads.

According to the Investigative Committee, work is underway to establish their whereabouts and the circumstances of their involvement in the conflict.

In addition, Bastrykin handed down instructions related to an investigation into a provocation staged by the Ukrainian intelligence services around the alleged killing of civilians in the town of Bucha, Kiev region. The Investigative Committee’s chief also paid attention to investigative activities concerning Ukrainian prisoners of war.

On March 29, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced that about 600 foreign mercenaries had been killed in the Russian special military operation in Ukraine in the previous two weeks, while more than 500 had left the country.