The situation on the line of contact in Donbass remains critical. This was announced on Saturday, February 19, by the representative of the People’s Militia of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Eduard Basurin.
“The situation on the line of contact remains critical. Ukrainian punishers continue shelling civilian infrastructure and terrorizing the civilian population of our republic <...> The facts of the violation were promptly brought to the attention of representatives of the Ukrainian side in the JCCC (Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Ceasefire Issues – Ed.),” Basurin said in a video message, published in the department’s Telegram channel.
He added that the representative of Ukraine in the JCCC refuses to respond to the concerns of the DPR and take measures for a ceasefire by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF).
The situation on the line of contact in Donbass escalated on February 17. The DPR and the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) reported heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including with heavy weapons. At the same time, Kiev announced the shelling of the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On Friday, February 18, the heads of the LPR and DPR, Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, announced that the authorities had begun evacuating residents of the republics to Russia in connection with the shelling. Pushilin also said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would soon order the military to go on the offensive in order to implement the plan to invade the territory of Donbass. In the evening of the same day, the first buses with refugees began to arrive in the Rostov region.
Also on Friday, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Acting Minister of Emergency Situations Alexander Chupriyan to fly to the region to organize conditions for accommodating refugees from Donbass and provide hot meals and everything necessary, including medical care. The Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation transferred to the Rostov region the funds necessary to make one-time payments of 10 thousand rubles to citizens transported from Donbass.
Since 2014, the Kiev authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the intra-Ukrainian conflict. The issues of its settlement are being discussed in the Minsk and Normandy formats.
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