MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. More than 19,400 people were evacuated from dangerous regions in Ukraine, and from the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics to Russia during the day, Mikhail Mizintsev, chief of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, said on Tuesday.
"On March 21, 2022, as many as 19,442 people, including 3,448 children, were evacuated from dangerous zones in various Ukrainian regions, and from the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics to Russia without the Ukrainian side’s participation. Since the beginning of the special military operation, a total of 366,182 people, including 77,062 children, have been evacuated," he said.
According to Mizintsev, some 2,895 private cars crossed the Russian border on Tuesday and 43,287 since the beginning of the operation.
He also said that more than 9,500 temporary accommodation centers are operating in Russia for refugees from Ukraine.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aimed to demilitarize and denazify the country.
When clarifying the unfolding developments, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.