Mercenaries from more than 40 countries are currently engaged in combat near Zaporozhye, with the majority of them from Poland, Vladimir Rogov, who heads the We Stand With Russia movement, told TASS on Saturday.

"The number of [represented] countries has grown. Back a week ago, we said there were 34 confirmed countries, and now there are mercenaries from over 40 countries," he said.

The overwhelming majority of them are Poles, of which there are 5,000, Rogov specified. He also said Japanese, Australian, Canadian, French nationals and people from Spanish-speaking countries among mercenaries.

Rogov also recalled that more than a thousand mercenaries had already been killed in the city of Zaporozhye.