in the takeover of crimea the russian army didnt pretend to be affiliated with a breakaway republic iirc but it was a similar "these aren't really our guys" sort of deal
So, are the Donbass separatists mostly an native-Ukraine force, just somewhat supported by Russia, despite their Surzhyk,
OR
are they composed of foreign, official Russian army soldiers, with barely any links to Ukraine?
in the takeover of crimea the russian army didnt pretend to be affiliated with a breakaway republic iirc but it was a similar "these aren't really our guys" sort of deal
So, are the Donbass separatists mostly an native-Ukraine force, just somewhat supported by Russia, despite their Surzhyk, OR are they composed of foreign, official Russian army soldiers, with barely any links to Ukraine?
no one's sure about that except the russian army i expect. now that they're annexed any "native" troops are russian too
I suppose so...