MELITOPOL, October 31. /TASS/. Mercenaries from Poland and Georgia and Chechen militants constitute a group of more than 7,000 in the Kiev-controlled city of Zaporozhye, the leader of the movement We are together with Russia, Vladimir Rogov, told TASS on Monday.
"There are more than 7,000 of them. Chechen militants, Poles and Georgians have begun to interact," he said, adding that Poles, Georgians and Chechen militants predominated among the mercenaries in the city.
"Now the so-called ‘shaitans’ (literally meaning devils - a derogatory reference to anti-Russian Chechen militants - TASS) and also Poles and Georgians dominate in Zaporozhye. These are the three main large ethnic groups of mercenaries," he stressed.
Rogov added that a large number of militants from the Kraken unit were also present in the city.
Earlier he said that the city was "crawling with militants." Ukraine’s army in Zaporozhye was providing accommodation next to its deployment sites to those who "have refused to recognize the results of the referendum in the liberated territories and left."
This is done for one purpose, he said: in order to claim, when an opportunity offers itself, that civilians had come under bombardments.
Rogov also said that the Ukrainian forces occupied about 90 social facilities and at least 18 large enterprises in the city of Zaporozhye and heavy equipment was also being moved there.
Kiev has lost 72%-73% of the Zaporozhye Region. The Ukrainian army still controls the city of Zaporozhye, which accounts for almost half of the region’s population.