The pro-Russian rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine receive significant weaponry from the Kremlin and have committed atrocities against Ukrainian forces, according to a former Russian volunteer for the insurgents.
In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Russian businessman Bondo Dorovskikh said he decided to volunteer for the pro-Russian separatists after state media reported stories of Ukrainian fascists murdering Russian speakers. But the insurgents he joined in Ukraine were "bandits" and "cutthroats" who often drunkenly fought and even killed each other, he said.
The Russian military organized the separatists and provided them with arms:
He says the unit was comprised of local militants, Russian volunteers, several Russian army officers, and a handful of foreign recruits from Spain, Italy, and France. […]
He also confirms that the tanks spotted in eastern Ukraine come from Russia and describes seeing tanks being sent into Ukraine from the Rostov region.
"They gathered volunteers who had served in armored divisions in the army," he says. "They were trained at a tank training base near Rostov, units were formed, they were also given weapons. These tanks were transported to the border, which they then crossed on their own and headed directly to the hotspots."
Dorovskikh said the rebels were poorly trained and committed severe abuses against Ukrainian troops:
He says the insurgents also took part in shocking acts of cruelty against Ukrainian soldiers. He recalls hearing the screams of Ukrainian soldiers on the radio as rebels torched their tanks with the men still inside.
"I felt sorry for those on the other side who were being slaughtered," he says. "And they were being killed by cutthroats who don't even care against whom they are fighting."