Over 32,000 mercenaries and Russian troops fighting in Donbas - General Staff

Over 30,000 mercenaries and Russian military are fighting in Donbas, General Staff representative and acting head of the personnel department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Rozmaznin has said.

"Today 32,400 people are fighting in Donbas, of which 6,000-10,000 are Russian Armed Forces servicemen, and the rest are mercenaries and members of the so-called illegal paramilitary groups," he said at a press conference on Thursday.

He said that mercenaries were represented by all nationalities of Russia, most of all the Chechens (the so-called "Kadyrov's men"). In second place are representatives of the Russian Cossacks: Don, Volga, Trans-Baikal Cossacks and others, he said.

"The Cossacks are known in Donbas as looters of the highest category," Rozmaznin said.

In addition to Russians, illegal armed groups also include mercenaries from other countries. In particular, Ukrainian military detained mercenaries from Israel, Serbia, Spain, Italy and even Brazil.

As for regular Russian troops, the leadership of the Russian Armed Forces regularly rotates them, as "the military cannot withstand psychological pressure, they do not understand what they are fighting for," Rozmaznin said.