Militant groups in Donbass are led by professional Russian military - former spokesman of Putin

The former press secretary of Vladimir Putin, journalist and traveler Mikhail Kozhukhov acknowledged the presence of the Russian military professionals on the occupied territories. A fragment of this interview was uploaded on YouTube.

"I am absolutely a civilian but I spent four years four years of my life at war. I do know that no "Motorola" could have set the 20-thousand group of troops in motion and organize the battle near Ilovaysk or Mariupol. I know, not because I was told so so, but because it's different and this group could be only led by people who at least have a degree of General Staff. They must people who worked with each other, knew each other and were usual for each other,"- said Kozhukhov.

"From what I'm told by people who come to Russia from there, if the border was closed, the problem in the south-east would end very quickly," - said the journalist.

Russian journalist Mikhail Kozhukhov worked as the press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin from November 1999 to January 2000.