ROSTOV-ON-DON, February 20. /TASS/. More than 40,000 residents of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR, LPR) arrived in the Rostov region in the south of Russa, acting head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia Alexander Chupriyan told reporters on Sunday.
"More than 40,000 people who were forced to leave Ukraine arrived in Russia. Now they are placed in the Rostov region in temporary accommodations," he said.
Chupriyan said that there is hot food in each temporary accommodation point, communication has been set up.
The situation along the contact line in eastern Ukraine took a turn for the worse on the morning of February 17. The Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics reported some of the most intensive shelling by Kiev forces in recent months. The shelling damaged some civilian facilities.
On Friday, the leaders of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics announced the evacuation of the republics’ inhabitants to Russia, citing the increasing threat of hostilities.