LUGANSK, February 21. /TASS/. Head of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Leonid Pasechnilk has signed a decree on the voluntary mobilization of men aged over 55.

"Changes are to be made to the the decree on mobilization and the use of certain measures aimed at enforcing martial law in the Lugansk People’s Republic, signed by the LPR head on February 19, adding a provision to paragraph two, reading: ‘Men aged over 55 may enlist voluntarily," the document says. The decree took effect upon signing.

Tensions escalated along the line of contact in eastern Ukraine on the morning of February 17. The self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR, LPR) reported the heaviest shelling by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in months. On February 18, the heads of the LPR and DPR, Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin, announced the evacuation of the republics’ residents to Russia, citing the increasing threat of hostilities. A general mobilization was ordered in the Donbass republics on February 19.