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Evacuation of residents in Kiev-controlled part of Lugansk region begins

Those, who are unable to evacuate on their own, will be taken from the railway stations, head of the Lugansk Military and Civil Administration Sergey Gaiday informed

KIEV, February 24. /TASS/. The evacuation of residents has been announced in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Lugansk Region, head of the Lugansk Military and Civil Administration Sergey Gaiday reported on Thursday.

"Today, on February 24, 2022, the general evacuation of residents of the Lugansk region starts at 05:50," he wrote on his Facebook page. He urged car owners to move towards the city of Dnepr. Those who are unable to evacuate on their own will be taken from the railway stations of Lisichansk, Rubezhnoye, and Svatovo, Gaiday emphasized.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning 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.

Russia’s Defense Ministry reported later on Thursday that Russian troops were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. It emphasized that Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons.

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Ukraine crisis Eastern Ukraine

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