Moscow, Feb 26 (Prensa Latina) Seven civilians lost their lives the day before in the Donetsk People’s Republics (DPR) and Lugansk (RPL) due to attacks by Ukrainian troops, reported today Rodión Miróshnik, RPL representative in the humanitarian subgroup for Donbass. .
On his Telegram channel, the official posted that another 15 people were injured by shelling by military formations in Kiev.
This Thursday at dawn, Russia launched a military operation in the Ukrainian autonomous region of Donbass, after the authorities of those territories requested help to repel Kiev’s aggression.
On February 21, Moscow recognized the independence and sovereignty of the DPR and the LPR and signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders, documents that included the establishment of diplomatic relations and military aid.
Information about the start of the attack was reported by President Vladimir Putin in a televised speech, in which he stated that Russia will try to protect the population of Donbass and “demilitarize” Ukraine.
The president urged the Ukrainian military to lay down their arms and warned of the possibility of an immediate response in the event of attempts at external intervention in the situation.
The Russian Armed Forces launched attacks on military infrastructure, air defense facilities, airfields and military aviation with high-precision weapons. The Defense Ministry stressed that the civilian population of Ukraine is not threatened.
Given the current situation, the Government of Ukraine decreed martial law in the country, demanded financial and humanitarian aid from the international community, while demanding sanctions and “isolating Russia by all means and formats”.
According to Putin, Russia does not plan to occupy Ukrainian territories, but rather to defend the right of the peoples of Ukraine to self-determination.
He also reiterated that Moscow cannot allow Kiev to acquire nuclear weapons and continue to militarize, which constitutes a danger to the country’s security. He stressed that NATO’s continued eastward expansion is unacceptable.
msm/mml
