Russian regular military formations in temporarily occupied Donbas are comprised of 32,000 persons, of which 11,000 are Russian soldiers, Joint Forces Operation Commander Lt. General Serhiy Nayev has said.
“We know of the 1st and 2nd Army Corps in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. They are comprised of about 32,000 persons, of which 11,000 are Russian citizens. Commanding officers of units in both formations are Russian military officers and Russian military generals,” Nayev told the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
The 1st and 2nd Army Corps are not voluntary units of the self-proclaimed “Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics,” Nayev said, but active military formations reporting to Russia’s 8th Combined-Arms Army, the headquarters of which is located in Novocherkassk, Russia.
He also gave details about the equipment used by the enemy.
“The units are equipped mainly with Soviet-era weapons, but it’s not rare for modern-day Russia systems to be used, for example, the electronic warfare systems Repellent, Zhitel and Shipovnik-Aero. The Russian-led occupation forces use these systems to block drones from the OSCE (the Organization for Security and Cooperation of Europe) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) in occupied areas of Donbas, as well as 60 kilometers past the contact line with Ukraine-controlled territory,” Nayev said.
