At least 34 civilians killed in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine

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BERLIN, March 11. (DPA/ EP) –

At least 34 civilians have been killed in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics in eastern Ukraine in the past three weeks, the TASS news agency reported, citing a separatist official.

Rodion Miroshnik, representative of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Lugansk, has assured that 34 civilians have died and about 180 have been injured in the space of 22 days as part of what he has described as “an escalation” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donetsk and Luhansk.

President Putin recognized the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk in February, and hours later ordered the entry of the Armed Forces as part of a “peacekeeping mission”, which provoked the majority condemnation of the international community.

The separatist leaders of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, Denis Pushilin and Leonid Pasechnik, respectively, after the recognition of their independence by Vladimir Putin, formally requested the Russian president’s help to repel “the aggression” of the Forces Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russian police services reported a week ago that more than 122,000 residents of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, in eastern Ukraine, are already refugees on Russian territory since the beginning of the Russian invasion of the country.