ASTANA, October 4. /TASS/. Western countries recruited 18,000 mercenaries from 85 countries for the Ukrainian "International Legion," Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov said at a meeting of the Council of Heads of CIS Security and Law Enforcement Agencies.

"The scale of the system set up by the West to recruit militants for the frontline is illustrated by the size of the so-called ‘International Legion of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense,’ which has reached 18,000 people from more than 85 countries, including the countries in post-Soviet space," he noted. "The militants from Poland, France and Georgia are particularly prominently represented in Ukraine," he added. The FSB chief noted that lately, the numbers of mercenaries from South America have been growing.

"The special training of recruited foreigners is underway at training centers and NATO camps in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania," he added.

According to Bortnikov, the continued deployment of foreign mercenaries and militants from international terrorist organizations confirms the West’s determination to crank up the intensity of military actions. "In most cases, the recruitment of such individuals abroad is carried out via Ukrainian foreign missions," he added.