China News Agency, Nur-Sultan, February 19. According to foreign media reports on the 19th, the operation of the eastern Ukrainian civil armed forces to evacuate local residents from settlements is still ongoing.
RIA Novosti reported on the 19th that the Donetsk and Luhansk regions will use buses to transport local residents out of the area from the 18th local time, and the elderly, women and children will be evacuated first.
As of 18:00 that night, the first group of residents evacuated from eastern Ukraine had arrived in Rostov Oblast, Russia.
In response, the Ukrainian National Security Agency issued an announcement on the 18th saying that the evacuation of civilians in eastern Ukraine to Russia was part of a "hybrid war" against Ukraine, with the purpose of provoking and unreasonably accusing the Ukrainian government of worsening the situation.
Ukraine's State Security Service said the news that the Ukrainian military was planning to launch an offensive in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions did not conform to the facts and was aimed at destabilizing Ukraine.
The announcement emphasized that the Ukrainian National Security Service and other departments are always ready to respond in a timely manner to any destabilizing situation.
Recently, tensions in eastern Ukraine have continued, with the Ukrainian government army and the eastern civil armed forces accusing each other of firing near the ceasefire line.
According to the news released by the Ukrainian military on the 18th, Ukraine has recorded 66 violations of the ceasefire agreement by the eastern civil forces, of which more than 52 times used weapons such as artillery, mortars and tanks prohibited by the Minsk agreement.
Ukrainian armed forces commander-in-chief Zaluzhny said that the Ukrainian military abides by the Minsk agreement and the norms of international humanitarian law and does not plan to conduct any offensive operations or shelling civilians.
Zaluzhny stressed that the actions of the Ukrainian army are of a defensive nature.
(over)