MOSCOW, June 17. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry has published data on the number of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine: Poland is the lead in terms of the number of foreign mercenaries from Europe - 378, while Canada leads in terms of the Americas' mercenaries killed, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on Friday.

"Among European countries, the absolute leader in the numbers of both arrived and killed mercenaries is Poland. Since the onset of a special military operation, 1,831 people arrived in Ukraine with 378 of them already eliminated and 272 mercenaries returned to their homeland. It is followed by Romania - 504 arrived, 102 killed, 98 left. The UK ranks third: 422 arrived, 101 killed, 95 left," the military official said.

"From the Americas, Canada is in the lead: 601 arrived, 162 eliminated, 169 left. The US is in second place: 530 arrived, 214 killed, 227 left," he added.

According to Konashenkov, as for the Middle East, Transcaucasus and Asia, the largest number, 355 mercenaries, arrived from Georgia, of whom 120 were destroyed and 90 left Ukraine. "Next comes terrorist fighters who arrived from the US-controlled areas of Syrian Zayefratia - 200 people. As of today, 80 of them have been eliminated and 66 have departed from Ukraine," the general reported.

"In total, our lists, as of June 17, 2022, include mercenaries and weapons operation specialists from 64 countries. Since the start of the special military operation, 6,956 people arrived in Ukraine, 1,956 have already been destroyed, 1,779 have left," the official representative of the military department summed up.

He stressed that "3,221 mercenaries are still alive, have not yet been captured or have not escaped to the Ukrainian border." "Detailed data is published on the information resources of the Russian Defense Ministry," Konashenkov added.