DONETSK, August 22. /TASS/. The allied forces of the Donbass republics and the Russian army recaptured 200 sq. km of the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) in the past three weeks, Spokesman for the DPR People’s Militia Eduard Basurin reported on Monday.

"Over the past three weeks, we have liberated 200 square kilometers," the spokesman said in a live broadcast on Russia’s TV Channel One.

This is a huge area and "the enemy is not giving it away easily," Basurin emphasized. "Like a special drill that gets into the earth, our fighters have to break intensely into this defense to liberate their land," Basurin specified.

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

On February 21, President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow was recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Moscow recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.

Russian President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.