MATVEYEV KURGAN /Rostov region/, February 18. /TASS/. First buses with people evacuated from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) have reached Russia’s southern Rostov region.
A bus with Donets car plates crossed the border via the Matveyev Kurgan checkpoint, a TASS correspondent reported from the site.
he situation along the contact line in eastern Ukraine deteriorated on Thursday morning, when the self-proclaimed republics reported the most intense shelling attacks by Ukrainian troops. One civilian was wounded and several civil infrastructure facilities were damaged.
Following a dramatic deterioration of the situation in Donbass, the self-proclaimed republics on Friday announced evacuation of civilians to Russia. Rostov region governor Vasily Golubev has asked assistance from the federal government. Russian President Vladimir Putin decreed to pay lump-sum allowances of 10,000 rubles (129.4 US dollars) to refugees from Donbass.