You're reading: Tymchuk: Four strike groups consisting of nearly 30,000 Russians and Kremlin-backed proxies formed

Military expert and head of defense think tank Information Resistance, Dmtry Tymchuk, said there are up to 27,000 armed Russian troops and Kremlin-backed proxies in eastern Ukraine divided into four separate strike groups, according to a Facebook post on the morning of Nov. 3. 

They have in their possession
110-115 tanks, up to 280 various armored fighting vehicles, 80-100 cannon
artillery guns and multiple rocket launchers, as well as 500 Russian military armored
transport trucks of various design.

He added that the four strike groups are
named after their geographic location: Luhansk near Pervomaisk district,
Horlivka-Donetsk, Volnovakha-Telmanovsk and Novoazovsk.

Some 14,000-15,000 comprise of Russian military
and mercenaries, and another 10,000-12,000 from among a radicalized local
population.

Since a shaky ceasefire was brokered in
Minsk on Sept. 5 between Russian proxies and officials together with Ukrainian
officials, Tymchuk wrote that Kremlin-backed forces have violated the peace
agreement nearly 2,400 times by opening fire on Ukrainian positions.

Most recently overnight on Nov. 3
Russian forces fired four times at Ukrainian positions near Stariy Aidar, and
twice each at positions in Krymske and Pavlopol. They also shelled Ukrainian
positions in Orlovske, Debaltseve, Cherevkovka and the Donetsk Airport.

As a result, over 70 Ukrainian servicemen have died at the hands of Russia-backed forces since the Sept. 5 ceasefire. More than 3,400 people have died since the military conflict started in the east in mid-April, including some 1,000 Ukrainian servicemen. 

“With the active assistance of Russian
specialists, the leadership of (local breakaway groups) DPR and LPR are in the
process of ‘unifying’ their gangs to create ‘linear units and subunits,” said
Tymchuk. “Currently, this process is not standing out as a success due to the
extremely low level of discipline in the ranks of terrorists and their
unwillingness to obey a single command.”