Donetsk (Ukraine), February 19 (ANI): A separatist leader in Ukraine ordered a full military mobilization on Saturday amid ongoing tension between Moscow and Kiev, according to a media report. Denis Pushilin, the head of the pro-Russian separatist government in the Donetsk region has signed a decree on general mobilization. “The People’s Council of the DPR has approved the decree of the head of the DPR on general mobilization,” Sputnik News Agency reported citing a council member Vladislav Berdichevsky. Russia’s recent build-up of around 150,000 troops just over the border from the Donbas region in the east, in Belarus to the north, and Crimea to the south, which began in the autumn, has escalated tensions.
Russia claims the surge of forces has always been for military exercises and that it poses no threat to Ukraine or any other nation, but has refused to offer any real explanation for the biggest build-up of military might in Europe since the Cold War. The US Embassy in Kiev informed on Thursday that Russia’s shelling of Stanytsia Luhanska in Ukrainian government-controlled territory in Donbas hit a kindergarten, injured two teachers, and knocked out power in the village. “Russia’s shelling of Stanytsia Luhanska in Ukrainian government-controlled territory in Donbas hit a kindergarten, injured two teachers, and knocked out power in the village. The aggressor in Donbas is clear – Russia,” tweeted US Embassy in Kiev.
Meanwhile, the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik today that Rostov Region has opened 15 border crossings for refugees from the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. Defense officials in Moscow have said since Tuesday that troops and military hardware are pulling back, having completed some of the drills. Western intelligence officials say, on the contrary, that Russia has moved roughly 7,000 more troops close to the borders in recent days. (ANI)
About 25,000 Luhansk residents crossed border with Russia
Kiev [Ukraine], February 19 (ANI/Sputnik): About 25,000 residents of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) have already crossed the border with Russia, fleeing the escalation of violence in Donbas, a spokesperson for the LPR Emergencies Ministry said on Saturday.
On Friday, the LPR and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) announced the evacuation of their citizens to Russia’s Rostov Region over the escalation of tensions on the contact line. “25,000 LPR citizens have crossed the border,” the spokesperson told the Russian acting emergencies minister, adding that these are those who used personal cars. He added that three more convoys with a total of 10,000 refugees are being currently formed. (ANI/Sputnik)
Russia’s Rostov region opens 15 border crossings for Donbas refugees, says Emergencies Ministry
Moscow [Russia], February 19 (ANI/Sputnik): Russia‘s Rostov Region has opened 15 border crossings for refugees from the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, the Russian Emergencies Ministry told Sputnik on Saturday.
On Friday, the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) and Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) announced the evacuation of their citizens to the Rostov Region over the escalation of tensions on the contact line.
“As of February 19, six automobile, two railway and seven pedestrian checkpoints are operating in the Rostov Region,” the ministry said.
The LPR and DPR are accusing Kiev of launching a new military operation against them while the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly stressed that they hold Russia responsible for any escalation in Donbas. (ANI/Sputnik)
