DONETSK, March 1. /TASS/. Units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been shelling Gorlovka since the early morning, leaving 16 civilians injured, the city’s Mayor Ivan Prikhodko said on Tuesday.

"The bombardment by Ukrainian Armed Forces has not ceased since 7 am. Sixteen civilians suffered injuries of varying severity during this time," he said in a post on his Telegram.

Prikhodko added that over 35 destructions of the city’s infrastructure have been registered at the moment. "The repair work on the consequences of the shelling has been underway," he stressed.

The situation along the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on the morning of February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics reported the most intensive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the leaders of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. The Russian head of state stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. Russia’s Defense Ministry reported that Russian troops were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. It emphasized that Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed through the use of precision weapons. Civilians are not threatened, the Russian military assured.