DONETSK, March 1. /TASS/. Two civilians were killed in the Ukrainian army’s bombardments of Donetsk by multiple rocket launchers, Donetsk Mayor Alexey Kulemzin said on Tuesday.

"The Ukrainian punitive forces continue shelling the Kievsky district from multiple launch rocket systems. Two people were killed in the area of Shakhtyorskaya Square," the mayor wrote on his Telegram channel.

The mayor urged the city’s residents to get away from windows and "move into shelters, if possible."

The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on the morning of February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military over past months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders.

President Putin said in a televised address on the morning of February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories and the operation was aimed at demilitarizing and denazifying Ukraine.