LUHANSK. Feb 21 (Interfax) - The number of volunteers arriving in the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) from Russia and other members of the Commonwealth of Independent States has been growing, the LPR militia said in a statement.
"There is a substantial number of persons with war experience gained in 2014-2015, who have expressed the wish to defend the republic at this difficult moment," the militia said.
Since tensions started growing in the region in February, "more than 400 volunteers from Russia have joined the ranks of LPR defenders. Volunteers from other republics of the former Soviet Union are also coming in," the militia said.
The Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe has been observing a drastic increase in shooting incidents in Donbas in recent days. As tensions are growing in the region, the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics have begun evacuating women and children to Russia's Rostov region and have announced full mobilization.