Some 3,000 Russian military in Donbas – Poroshenko

13:55, 24.08.2017 1 min read

There are about 3,000 Russian servicemen in the occupied areas of Donbas, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

"Our intelligence has confirmed that the minimum strength of forces of the Russian Federation in the occupied territory is some 3,000," Poroshenko told journalists after the talks with U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis in Kyiv on Thursday.

He also noted that the total number of armed forces in the occupied territory of Ukraine is 39,000. According to the president, they include Russian special forces and other regular servicemen of the Russian army.

Poroshenko said he expects Russia to meet the security provisions of the Minsk agreements, including the withdrawal of its forces from Ukraine and the release of hostages.