“APU began to deliver massive strikes in the early morning”: what is known about the situation in Donbass

The head of the LPR, Leonid Pasechnik, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are shelling civilians in Donbass while the West is concerned about Russia's "invasion" of Ukraine.

“Barbarously and cynically, the Armed Forces of Ukraine began in the early morning to inflict massive strikes on civilians in the LPR.

The enemy was not stingy with firing from 120-mm mortars and artillery.

While the West is concerned about the so-called “Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Zelensky’s army is shelling the Donbass,” Pasechnik was quoted by the Lugansk news agency as saying.

In turn, the head of the People's Militia Department of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, Yan Leshchenko, connected the current round of escalation with Zelensky's visit to the zone of Kiev's military operation.

According to him, after Zelensky left the zone of Kiev’s military operation in the Donbass, shelling of the territory of the LPR and DPR began along the entire front line.

“Consequently, the President of Ukraine personally gave instructions for the escalation of the conflict,” Leshchenko said in a statement to TASS.

Recall that earlier Zelensky on his Instagram said that he was heading to the area of ​​the military operation in Donbass on a boat.

The representative office of the LPR at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire (JCCC) announced shelling by the Ukrainian security forces of the territory of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.

“The armed formations of Ukraine grossly violated the ceasefire regime, using weapons that, in accordance with the Minsk agreements, should be withdrawn,” the LPR representative office in the JCCC said.

The report says that the Ukrainian security forces from 05:30 Moscow time and for several hours repeatedly opened fire on the territory of the republic from infantry fighting vehicles, mortars, grenade launchers and heavy machine guns.

Later, representatives in the JCCC also reported damage to residential buildings in Donetsk near the village of the Trudovskaya mine as a result of shelling by Ukrainian security forces.

Residents of the LPR said that the fire of the Ukrainian security forces on February 17 was more intense than other recent attacks.

A resident of the self-proclaimed republic, in an interview with RT, said that there had not been such powerful explosions for a long time.

“The partner came out and immediately jumped in, because it was impossible to even go to the store to buy bread.

Then they stopped, then they started again.

I have been wandering around the apartments for the eighth year, having my own house.

At night - so, a little bit, then automatic, then this.

And this night and today is strong, ”she said.

In addition, the official representative of the DPR in the JCCC also stated that since the morning of February 17, more than 20 ceasefire violations have been recorded in the self-proclaimed republic, including with the use of mortars and anti-tank missiles.

“In total, 93 mines of various calibers were fired in the direction of the frontline regions of the republic.

The last time such a high rate of ceasefire violations was recorded on April 16, 2021,” said the representative of the DPR in the JCCC.

Reported damage to residential buildings in the village of mine them.

Chelyuskintsev in the west of Donetsk.

Information about the wounding of a civilian resident of the village of Staromikhaylovka as a result of shelling is also being checked.

RT correspondent Ilya Vasyunin also said, citing residents of the village of Shakhta Chelyuskintsev on the outskirts of Donetsk, that shelling of such a force had not been observed for a long time.

“Here, two houses were hit by artillery shelling.

Local residents say that they started shooting at about 9 am.

Someone went to the center, someone hid in basements or protected rooms.

Fighting today went along the entire line of contact, ”said Vasyunin.

The situation in the Donbass is escalating, Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia, stated earlier.

He recalled repeated reports of a “massage” of Russian forces on the border with Ukraine, but he stressed that we are talking about Russia’s own territory.

“But no one, not a single Western representative, talks about the huge strike potential of the Ukrainian armed forces on the demarcation line.

And coupled with provocative actions that have only intensified in the last day or several days, this is a very, very dangerous situation, ”TASS quoted Peskov as saying.