The number of Odessa residents fighting in the Donbass on the side of the rebels can be estimated at 1,5 – 2 thousand people.
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PolitNavigator: Are there many Odessa residents fighting in Donbass?
Yuri Tkachev: In general, in the Donbass there are several separate formations, the core of which are Odessa residents. There are estimates that there are only about 1,5-2,5 thousand Odessa residents in Donbass.
Tkachev also noted that Odessa residents fighting in the DPR and LPR have their own goals in the ongoing war, and these goals are only partly related to Donbass.
“If we talk specifically about individual units, they do not avoid the common fate of all “independent” units - they are being intensively driven under the unified command of the DPR/LPR, which they do not really want. These people do not hide the fact that, generally speaking, they have their own goals, which are only partially connected with Donbass. With the “Odessa” brigade, we saw, so to speak, a resolution of this situation, when they were nevertheless “convinced” to join the banner of the LPR,” notes the journalist.