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Ukraine rebel leader Zakharchenko 'to raise 100,000 men'

Pro-Russian rebels on patrol in Makiivka, a suburb of Donetsk (1 Feb)


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Pro-Russian separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko has announced plans to recr
uit 100,000 men, as fighting with Ukrainian forces intensifies.
The rebels want to push government forces out of the eastern regions of Donetsk
and Luhansk and are trying to capture the key town of Debaltseve.
Dozens of people including civilians were killed in clashes and artillery fire a
t the weekend.
Attempts to agree a truce failed when rebel negotiators did not turn up.
A fragile ceasefire agreed in early September in the Belarusian capital, Minsk,
collapsed last month when rebels stepped up their offensive on several Ukrainian
positions and seized Donetsk airport.
Rebels were accused of carrying out an artillery attack on the south-eastern Ukr
ainian port city of Mariupol which left 30 civilians dead.
Ukrainian government forces have also been blamed for deadly attacks on Donetsk
city and other rebel-held areas last month in which dozens of civilians were kil
led.
A column of Ukrainian armoured vehicles heads to Debaltseve, (1 Feb)
Armoured vehicles were seen heading for Debaltseve on Sunday to bolster Ukrainia
n forces
Aidar battalion volunteers carry a coffin with body of their friend, who was kil
led in eastern Ukraine conflict, during the funeral ceremony on the Independence
Square in Kiev, Ukraine, 2 February 2015
The Ukraine conflict has killed more than 5,000 people. Here, a funeral in Kiev
on Monday
"Mobilisation will start in 11 days' time," Mr Zakharchenko, the head of the sel
f-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told Donetsk news agency.
However, the rebels' ability to raise large numbers of forces is unclear.
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Analysis: David Stern, BBC News, Kiev
The first question that springs to mind, after
tion announcement, is where all these fighters
the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's
n of a few million, and it is unclear how many

Alexander Zakharchenko's mobilisa


will come from. The territory of
Republics had a pre-war populatio
people remain.

So it could be political bluster - an attempt to match rhetorically the Ukrainia


n government's own mobilisation plans. However, it should be noted that Kiev pla
ns to carry this out over the course of the year and not, like the separatists,
in little more than a week.
But Mr Zakharchenko's statement could indicate something much more serious. The
rebels have already threatened a full-scale offensive, promising to push to the
borders of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and possibly beyond. This most likel

y would require a huge number of forces. Many in Kiev are now concerned the Done
tsk leader may be preparing the ground for major intervention from Ukraine's nei
ghbour, Russia.
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Christopher Miller, a journalist based near Debaltseve, told the BBC he thought
it was "very unlikely" the rebels would be able to mobilise 100,000 men.
It was more likely that rebel leaders were attempting to use the announcement as
"a disguise to bring in more Russian volunteers", he said.
Ukraine has alleged the rebels are being helped by as many as 9,000 Russian serv
icemen, a claim the government in Moscow denies.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meanwhile accused the Ukrainian governmen
t of taking "a course towards a military solution to the conflict".
'Reserve force'
Mr Zakharchenko emphasised that recruits to separatist forces would be voluntary
, Donetsk news agency said.
"It is a reserve force which will definitely be able to resist any attack," he w
as quoted as saying.
They would have a month's combat training with the aim of providing five additio
nal brigades, the Donetsk agency reports.
Ukraine map
Ukraine's government has also announced plans to boost its forces in the east, a
nd mobilise 200,000 troops in 2015.
Tanks and other heavy military vehicles were seen heading towards Debaltseve on
Sunday in an attempt to bolster government defences in the town.
Hundreds of civilians were moved out of the town by Ukrainian government forces
amid reports that the separatists had reached the outskirts.
A Canadian journalist who is in the conflict zone said the rebels had been invol
ved in a tough battle as they tried to encircle Debaltseve.
"It's been quite surprising to hear how many have said they are experiencing sig
nificant losses and many of their fellow fighters have been killed," Kristina Jo
vanovski told the BBC World Service Newsday programme. "That's not something tha
t you often hear."
Military officials in Kiev said on Monday that five soldiers had been killed in
the past 24 hours, although separatists said the number was more than 20. Thirte
en civilians were killed in separatist-held areas during the same period, rebel
sources said.
The latest fatalities mean at least 60 people have been killed during a weekend
of heavy violence in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Overall, more than 5,000 people have been killed and some 1.2 million have fled
their homes since last April, when the rebels seized a big swathe of Luhansk and
Donetsk regions, following Russia's annexation of Crimea.
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