LUGANSK, February 20. /TASS/. A total of 49 ceasefire violations by the Ukrainian armed forces were registered on the territory of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in the past day, the LPR mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) said.

"On February 19, 2022, a total of 49 ceasefire violations committed by the Ukrainian armed forces were registered. In some of them, heavy weaponry was used," the mission said in its Telegram channel.

The attacks targeted 27 residential areas of the republic.

The situation along the contact line in eastern Ukraine took a turn for the worse in the morning of February 17. The DPR and LPR 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 (LPR and DPR), Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, announced the evacuation of the republics’ inhabitants to Russia, citing the increasing threat of hostilities. All-out mobilization was announced in the republics on Saturday.