Ukraine Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba now says that claims by Russian officials that mercenaries from different nationalities are fighting alongside Russia are irrelevant.
Speaking on Tuesday during a press briefing with journalists from across the world, Kuleba said it is also inappropriate.
In his remarks, Kuleba said he was not aware of any foreign mercenaries fighting in Ukraine, as claimed by the list released last week by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Minister Kuleba, however, noted that according to the United Nations Charter, anyone who fights alongside a country that is protecting itself from aggression, cannot be referred to as a mercenary.
"I am not familiar with this fact, but the overall principle is very simple, you cannot call a man or a woman who fights on the side of the country that exercises its right to self-defence according to the UN Charter, a mercenary.
"A person who fights on the side of the country that committed a crime of aggression against another sovereign nation is mercenary, is complicit in the act of aggression against another country. So, I think this rhetoric of Russian officials is completely irrelevant and inappropriate irrespective if the nationalities it refers to," Kuleba said.
The Russian officials claimed that at least 13,387 mercenaries had flown to Ukraine to fight alongside them, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
The list said the alleged mercenaries were 8,112 from Europe, America (3,051), Asia (1,898), Africa (249) and Australia and Oceania (77).
They claimed that out of the 13,387, at least 5,962 had been killed by Russian soldiers.
The Russia report claimed that Kenya had five mercenaries on the list
This was, however, refuted by the Kenyan Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'oei.
The PS termed the claims as false, insisting that Kenya is a signatory 1989 United Nations Convention on International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries", and the "1977 OAU Convention for the Elimination of Mercenaries in Africa".
He said that Kenya's interaction with other State Actors in International Relations continues to be guided by her Foreign Policy of non-interference in affairs of other states, non-alignment as well as peaceful settlement of disputes.
"The Republic of Kenya notes the Russian Federation's report on the "Number of Foreign Mercenaries in Ukraine" published on the X handle @mfa_russia," Sing'oei said.
"Kenya rejects the allegations and dissociates herself from any alleged mercenary presence and activities in Ukraine."
