The head of the defense Ministry of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak on the first day of the week said that the number of "illegal Armed formations" in the Donbass At the moment has about 42, 5 thousand people. "currently, a joint group of military power of the Russian Federation and illegal Armed groups in the occupied territory of Donetsk and Lugansk has about 42, 5 thousand people ", - said Poltorak during the meeting of the inter-parliamentary Council Ukraine-NATO in Kiev. according to his statement, the number of artillery systems and tanks consists of 558 units." So many weapons, we realize, would be enough for the average European country, " the Minister said. Moscow has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to domestic conflict and is not privy to the events in the South-East, is interested in Ukraine overcame political and economic crisis. The Russian defense Ministry reported many times that does not supply the militia of Donbass military equipment, ammunition and other assistance. The head of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation S. V. Lavrov noted that the statements about the presence of Russian troops in the Donbass unproven - no one until now could not present concrete evidence, despite repeated accusations. Poltorak also said that Russia continues to increase its military buildup in Crimea, which, according to his vision, will give the chance to form there until 2017 Association total population of 43 thousand people. "The situation in Crimea today are complex. The Russian Federation over the past year, 2 times increased the number of groups, At this point of time, this number is about 24 thousand soldiers, greatly increased the number of military equipment, and if continued consolidation of forces, we do not exclude that by 2017 the Russian Federation can be a 2-fold increase in the number of its troops in Crimea and to form there a powerful Union with a total population of 43 thousand people, " - said Poltorak. According to his statement, there is a high probability of placement on the Peninsula " carriers of strategic nuclear weapons." By agreement of 1997 between Ukraine and Russia the population size of the black sea fleet in Crimea was not able to exceed 25 thousand people. the Russian defense Ministry first announced plans for the relocation to the Crimea ten Tu-22M3 long-range aviation, which have the capability to carry nuclear weapons, however, about the plans to send the nuclear warheads were not documented. The Director of the division on non-proliferation and observation arms of the Ministry of foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Mikhail Ulyanov said that Russia may deploy nuclear weapons anywhere on its national territory, and on the Crimean Peninsula ". Crimea and Sevastopol became the Russian regions after the 16 March 2014 referendum in which the overwhelming majority of voters voted for reunification with Russia. In the Russian capital said that the referendum in Crimea complies with international law and the UN Charter. Kiev still considers Crimea as part of Ukraine.