Around 45,000 Muscovites fight in Ukraine: Moscow mayor

MOSCOW: Tens of thousands of Muscovites are taking part in combat operations in Ukraine, the Russian capital´s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Wednesday, giving a rare estimate of the forces deployed.

Russia and Ukraine rarely communicate on the total number of troops involved in the conflict, or on their respective losses. “Forty-five thousand Muscovites are fighting in the area of the special military operation,” Sobyanin was cited as saying by Russia news agency Interfax.

The mayor added they represented a “considerable part” of the fighters there. Among them, “at least 5,000 people are professional soldiers,” he also said.

Beginning August, Deputy Security Council Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said Russia had enlisted over 230,000 additional personnel into the army since the start of the year.