There are Ingush volunteers among the militiamen fighting in Luhansk and Donetsk in east Ukraine, Ingushetia leader Yunus-Bek Yevkurov told Interfax. Ingushetia is one of the southern regions in Russia.
"The information currently available suggests that about 20-25 Ingush volunteers are fighting in east Ukraine. There is also information about four of them being killed," Yevkurov said.
The head of the republic suggested that the Ingush fighters in Ukraine travelled there not from Ingushetia but other parts of Russia. "Most likely, some of them were lured, others were asked, and someone went there for the sake of friendship," the regional leader said.
He said the young Ingush men often tell him they want to travel to Ukraine to help their fraternal people.
"I explain to them and ask: with what purpose and why are they going to go there? And I explain to them that the Ukrainians should be given a chance to sort things out on their own," the Ingush leader said.
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