Russia claims its army killed “hundreds of foreign mercenaries” in Ukraine. They were killed by long-range precision weapons and at the front shortly after arriving at training centres in Ukraine, the defence ministry said.

Most of the mercenaries would have been killed in places where there was fighting. The ministry says this is due to “their low level of training and lack of real combat experience”. The Russian information has not been independently confirmed.

It is not clear exactly how many people have died among the foreigners fighting with the Ukrainian army. It was previously announced through foreign media that a British, American and Dane, among others, had been killed.

Since the outbreak of the war on February 24, an unknown number of people have travelled to Ukraine to fight against Russia, also from the Netherlands. Russia’s defence ministry says the influx of foreign mercenaries has “dried up” since May and says the total has nearly halved from 6,600 to 3,500.