MOSCOW, February 20. /TASS/. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg believes that Russia is preparing to attack Ukraine, he made in an interview with German broadcaster ARD.

"All signs indicate that Russia is planning a full-scale attack on Ukraine," he said.

The embassies of a number of foreign states evacuated their personnel from Kiev and called on their fellow citizens to leave Ukraine for security reasons due to the aggravation of the situation on the contact line in Donbass.

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.