Some 200 Volunteers Join Donbas Forces Every Day - Donetsk Leader

According to the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, about 200 people are joining the Donbas forces every day.

DONETSK (Sputnik) — Some 200 volunteers are joining the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's forces on a daily basis, DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said Friday.

"The inflow of volunteers continues — up to 200 people every day, it remains steady," Zakharchenko said at a news briefing in Donetsk.

The mobilization of volunteers in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR, LPR) began on February 9. Back then, DPR chief Alexander Zakharchenko and Deputy Commander Eduard Basurin said they planned to boost the number of troops to 100,000 people.

Kiev, for its part, decided to conduct three waves of mobilization in 2015 following a January parliamentary approval of a presidential order on partial mobilization. If conducted in full, the mobilization could bring the number of troops in the Kiev army to over 140,000 people.

The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine began in April 2014 as Kiev launched a military operation against independence supporters.

Under the recent reconciliation deal hammered out on February 12 by the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine in Minsk and signed later by Kiev and independence supporters, the warring sides agreed to a ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weaponry.

On Thursday, both Kiev and Donbas forces declared they were pulling back weapons under the peace accord.