The situation in the Donbass tends to worsen, said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov. In his opinion, Russia should take under the protection of the inhabitants of the recently recognized self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DNR and LNR). Speaking at the Federation Council, the Deputy Defense Minister pointed out that shelling in the Donbass is carried out with weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements.
“Unfortunately, the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics is very complicated, it tends to worsen. We must protect the inhabitants of these young states, many of them, hundreds of thousands, are citizens of the Russian Federation,” said Nikolai Pankov (quoted by Interfax).
Speaking about the situation in Donbass, the Deputy Minister noted that shelling is increasing day by day and is being carried out in all directions. The number of attacks reaches “up to 2 thousand shells per day.” “Of these, 316 are heavy weapons directly prohibited by the Minsk agreements,” said Nikolai Pankov. According to him, “the Ukrainian leadership has taken the path of violence and bloodshed,” and “negotiations have reached an impasse.”
“Ukraine has created a 60,000-strong military group on the borders of the DPR and LPR,” the deputy head of the Russian Defense Ministry said. According to him, the group includes heavy armored vehicles, missile systems and multiple launch rocket systems.
On February 18, the heads of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of the population to Russia due to fears of Kiev’s forcible seizure of Donbass. The Ukrainian authorities reject such statements. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to recognize the independence of the DNR and LNR.
Meanwhile, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission reported 3,200 ceasefire violations in Donbass. The number of such violations is increasing day by day. Their number has reached the level that was observed before the entry into force of agreements on measures to strengthen the regime in July 2020.
Follow the development of the situation around Donbass in the online broadcast of Kommersant.