MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities have involved about 7,000 foreign mercenaries from 63 countries, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday.

"According to open sources alone, since the beginning of the special military operation, the Kiev regime involved about 7,000 foreign mercenaries from 63 states," she said.

According to Zakharova, most mercenaries are citizens of Poland, the US, Canada, Romania, the UK and Georgia.

"The number of foreign militants is receding during the combat. Russian Armed Forces have already eliminated about 1,000 mercenaries. About 1,000 more decided against taking part in the hostilities and returned to their previous extremist deployment area," she continued. "We recommend the remaining approximately 4,800 people to follow the example of their comrades in misfortune and also return back to their countries."

The diplomat noted that, according to international humanitarian law, foreign mercenaries do not enjoy combatant status and cannot expect a corresponding legal protection.

"Instead of easy money, they are in for criminal responsibility and long imprisonment," the spokeswoman added.