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Developments in eastern Ukraine

Donbas Volunteer Union set up in Russia

The number of Donbas volunteers varies between 30,000 and 50,000

Former prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Borodai ITAR-TASS/Stanislav Krasilnikov

Former prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Borodai

© ITAR-TASS/Stanislav Krasilnikov

MOSCOW, August 27. /TASS/. A Union of Donbas Volunteers has been established in Russia, the new organization’s head and former prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Borodai, announced on Thursday.

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"The organization is undergoing registration," Borodai said. "We are planning the union’s first congress in late September."

Any Russian national who took part in the Donbas events may join the union, he added.

According to Borodai, the number of Donbas volunteers varies between 30,000 and 50,000. "Russian volunteers should be socially protected and united, that is why we are establishing this organization."

The Russian government has never denied presence of its nationals in Donbas stressing that these people were volunteers, not mercenaries.

According to a poll conducted by the state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM), most Russians (65%) approve volunteers in eastern Ukraine.

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Chechnya's leader says all Chechen volunteers returned home from Donbas

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