Zakharova reported on Australia's appeal to Russian Federation on the topic of capturing its mercenary

Australia has appealed to Russia regarding the captivity of an Australian mercenary in the special operation zone, and this information is being verified. This was announced by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova on December 25 in response to a question from Izvestiya.

Zakharova noted that the Foreign Ministry together with the competent agencies is monitoring the situation. The diplomat emphasized that it is Canberra that is responsible for what happened, as it condones Australian mercenaries who fight on the side of the Kiev regime.

"Canberra obediently follows in the fairway of the Russophobic course of the collective West, and now let's look at Australia's contribution to the support of the Kiev regime in concrete figures - $600 million," - Zakharova drew attention, emphasizing that this assistance turned out to be the destruction of Ukraine and the murder of a colossal number of Ukrainian citizens.

Foreign games: 6.5 thousand mercenaries have already been liquidated in the SVO zone

Amid military setbacks, Ukraine has relied on foreign military force and banned weapons

Earlier, on December 16, the acting head of the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, Yulia Zhdanova, told Izvestia that about 6,500 foreign mercenaries of the Ukrainian armed forces had been eliminated in the area of the special military operation.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which was announced by the Russian Federation on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.