Ukrainian rebels will recruit an additional 100,000 soldiers.

(Baonghean.vn) - Pro-Russian separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko announced on February 2nd a plan to recruit 100,000 soldiers, amid escalating battles with Ukrainian forces.

The rebels want to push government forces out of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk and are trying to capture the main town of Debaltseve.

Dozens of people, including many civilians, were killed in clashes and artillery fire over the past weekend.

The rebels have seized control of many areas. Photo: AFP

Efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement failed due to a lack of support from rebel negotiators. A fragile ceasefire, agreed upon in early September in the Belarusian capital, was broken last month when rebels intensified their attacks on Ukrainian army positions and seized Donetsk airport.

These forces have also been accused of carrying out an artillery attack in the southeastern Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which killed 30 civilians.

Ukrainian government forces are also believed to have launched attacks on the city of Donetsk and other rebel-held areas over the past month, killing dozens of civilians.

"The mobilization will begin in 11 days," Zakharchenko, the head of the Donetsk People's Republic, told the Donetsk news agency.

However, the rebels' ability to increase their numbers remains unclear. Christopher Miller, a journalist working near Debaltseve, told the BBC that it would be difficult for the rebels to mobilize 100,000 people.

It is likely that the rebel leaders were trying to use announcements as "disguise measures to encourage more volunteer soldiers from Russia," he said.

Ukraine has accused rebel forces of being aided by 9,000 Russian troops. However, a statement from the Moscow government denied this. Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused the Ukrainian government of pursuing military solutions to the conflict.

Zakharchenko emphasized that the recruitment of separatist forces would be done on a voluntary basis, the Donetsk news agency reported.

"It's a reserve force that will certainly be able to withstand any attack," he stated.

These soldiers will undergo a month of combat training with the aim of adding five more brigades, the Donetsk news agency also reported.

Military vehicles have been deployed to Debaltseve to reinforce Ukrainian forces. Photo: AFP

The Ukrainian government has also announced plans to bolster its forces in the east and mobilize 200,000 soldiers by 2015.

Tanks and heavy military vehicles also advanced towards Debaltseve last Sunday in an effort to bolster government forces' defenses in the town.

Hundreds of residents were evacuated from the town by Ukrainian government forces as reports indicated that separatist forces had advanced closer to the outskirts.

Military officials in Kyiv said on Monday that five soldiers had been killed in the past 24 hours. On the same day, 13 civilians were also killed in separatist-held areas, according to rebel sources.

More than 5,000 people have been killed and around 1.2 million have been displaced since last April, when rebels seized large swathes of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions following Russia's annexation of Crimea.

Pham Tien Hoan

(According to BBC)