Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Feb 19: Separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine backed by Russia announced a complete military mobilisation on Saturday, a day after ordering women and children to flee to southern Russia due to a fear of conflict.
In a video statement, Denis Pushilin, the self-proclaimed president of the Donetsk People’s Republic, said he had issued a decree on mobilisation and urged men “able to wield a weapon in their hands” to report to military commissariats.
Soon after, another separatist leader Leonid Pasechnik, signed a similar declaration for the Luhansk People’s Republic. Separatist officials declared preparations to evacuate over 700,000 people on Friday, citing fears of an impending onslaught by Ukrainian forces, which Kyiv categorically refuted.
As of Saturday morning, less than 7,000 people have been evacuated from Donetsk, according to the local emergency ministry. The Ukrainian military reported on Saturday that pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine had violated the ceasefire 12 times in the morning, following 66 occurrences in the previous 24 hours.
Separatist officials also stated that Ukrainian soldiers shelled several communities on Saturday, according to them. Ceasefire violations are routinely blamed on both sides.
