DONETSK, February 2 (Sputnik) — The planned mobilization by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) should be considered a "recruitment of volunteers," DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said Monday.
"It would be more correct to call it the recruitment of volunteers," Zakharchenko said.
A DPR command source told RIA Novosti that volunteers would undergo a two-week military training, after which they would become part of the republic's military reserve.
"We are not planning to recruit the necessary number of volunteers in the shortest time possible. This process will be carried out in stages. We plan to complete it within six months," the source said.
Earlier on Monday, Zakharchenko said that DPR planned to hold a general mobilization in 10 days to recruit up to 100,000 people amid a surge in the ongoing violence in eastern Ukraine beginning at the start of 2015.
The Kiev government is currently holding a compulsory mobilization and, according to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, it recruited 45,000 people between January 20 and 29.