NATO reports over 1,000 Russian troops in Ukraine

15:54, 28.08.2014 1 min read

NATO's military headquarters in Europe reports that there are over 1,000 Russian troops in Ukraine now.

"We assess well over 1,000 Russian troops are now operating inside Ukraine," a NATO officer said in Mons in Belgium on Thursday.

He said 1,000 is very conservative estimate.

NATO believes that the most likely target of Russia is to freeze the conflict in eastern Ukraine, in order to create a long-term source of instability.

As was earlier reported, the so-called prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Oleksandr Zakharchenko said that about 3,000-4,000 military volunteers from Russia are fighting on the side of DPR. Among them are Russian soldiers who have chosen to spend their vacation outside of Russia while fighting in Ukraine.