Kyiv says there are about 6,000 Russian soldiers, 40,000 separatists in Donbas

There are about 6,000 Russian military and 40,000 separatists in the temporarily occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, spokesman for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladyslav Selezniov has said.

“There are up to 6,000 Russian servicemen in the temporarily occupied territory of Donbas and up to 40,000 Russian-terrorist militants, as well as local fringes, who perform tasks in the first and second army corps, which are functionally subordinate to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. In fact, they serve as occupying forces on the territory of Ukraine,” Selezniov said in an interview with Radio Liberty, published on Sept. 9.

In addition, the Russian military men continue to arrive in the occupied territories and carry out, among other things, leadership functions.

“There are immediate military leaders who, at the level of the company commander and above, carry out tasks on the principle of ‘business trips’ for a certain time,” he said.