Fra august 2014 har alle ledende stillinger i Donetsk og Luhansk været bestredet af ukrainske statsborgere.<ref name="nytimes0x01">{{Kilde nyheder|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/20/world/europe/plenty-of-room-at-the-top-of-ukraines-fading-rebellion.html|title=Plenty of room at the top of Ukraine's fading rebellion|last=Kramer|first=Andrew E.|date=20. august 2014|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=30. november 2014}}</ref><ref name="jamestown-20140815"/> Det er blevet rapporteret, at russiske frivillige udgør mellem 15 % og 80 % af separatiststyrkerne,<ref name="REUeuada">{{Kilde nyheder|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-crisis-rebels-insight-idUSKBN0FW07020140727|title=Pushing locals aside, Russians take top rebel posts in east Ukraine|date=27. juli 2014|work=Reuters|access-date=27. juli 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://rumedia.biz/news/3037 Представитель ДНР назвал процент российских добровольцев в местной армии] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225025500/https://rumedia.biz/news/3037|date=25. februar 2015}}. 27 June 2014.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://m.censor.net.ua/resonance/295448/rossiyiskiyi_naemnik_polovina_opolchentsev_iz_rossii_mne_pomogayut_sponsory_my_vozmem_lvov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727190415/https://m.censor.net.ua/resonance/295448/rossiyiskiyi_naemnik_polovina_opolchentsev_iz_rossii_mne_pomogayut_sponsory_my_vozmem_lvov|archive-date=27. juli 2014|title=Российский Наемник: "Половина Ополченцев – Из России. Мне Помогают Спонсоры. Мы Возьмем Львов"|publisher=M.censor.net.ua|date=26. juli 2014|access-date=26. august 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Interview: I Was A Separatist Fighter In Ukraine|url=https://www.rferl.org/content/ukraine-i-was-a-separatist-fighter/25455466.html|access-date=29. august 2014|publisher=Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty}}</ref><ref>{{Kilde nyheder|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/16/world/europe/whisked-away-for-tea-with-a-rebel-in-ukraine.html?_r=1|title=Whisked Away for Tea With a Rebel in Ukraine|last=Tavernise|first=Sabrina|date=15. juli 2014|work=The New York Times|access-date=29. august 2014}}</ref> hvoraf det hævdes, at mange af disse er tidligere militært personel.<ref name="gruz200" /><ref name="NW296937">{{Cite web|last=James Rupert|date=5. januar 2015|title=How Russians Are Sent to Fight in Ukraine|url=https://www.newsweek.com/how-russians-are-sent-fight-ukraine-296937|access-date=10. januar 2015|publisher=Newsweek}}</ref> Rekruttering af separatiststyrker til [[Donbas]]-regionen har pågået åbenlyst i flere russiske byer, hvilket er blevet bekræftet af en række russiske medier.<ref name="gruz200">{{Cite web|last=Yans|first=Georgy|url=https://www.mk.ru/politics/2014/06/09/gruz-200-iz-donecka.html|publisher=MK.RU|date=9. juni 2014|access-date=23. juli 2014|language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.novayagazeta.ru/politics/63990.html|title=Фермы для "диких гусей"|website=Novaya Gazeta|date=11. juni 2014|access-date=23. juli 2014|last=Makarenko, Victoria}}</ref>
Historie