Secretary General of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) Lamberto Zannier told the BBC that it was difficult to confirm the presence of regular Russian forces operating within Ukrainian territory.
“There have been always citizens of Russia, who probably, arrived there through various causes and supported separatists. We have such evidence because we met people who came in such an individual way, and talked to them,” he told the BBC on Sept. 1.
“But if there are Russian military units apart from those we saw, and apart from those taken prisoner by the Ukrainians – it is rather difficult to prove, Zannier said.
Ukraine’s leadership and Ukrainian security officers have many times claimed Russian military equipment and soldiers are present on the territory of Ukraine.
Last week NATO released new satellite images that it said showed Russian combat forces engaged in military operations inside the sovereign territory of Ukraine.
