DONETSK, March 16. /TASS/. Almost 50 civilians were killed in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) since the situation escalated on February 17, the republic’s mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) said on Wednesday.

"According to the information obtained by the DPR mission to the JCCC, from 17.02.2022 to 23:30 local time (same as Moscow time) of 15.03.2022, 49 civilians were killed during the 27 days of the escalation launched by the Ukrainian armed forces, including two deaths in the past 24 hours," the mission said in a statement.

A total of 237 civilians were injured in the reported period, including 15 children.

As many as 1,146 dwelling houses, 330 civil infrastructure facilities (including 19 medical establishments, 44 educational facilities, 53 social infrastructure and 19 critical infrastructure facilities), as well as 197 elements of electricity, water and gas supply systems, were damaged.

In all, 13,863 shells of various caliber, including 17 Tochka-U tactical missiles and 562 rockets from multiple launcher systems, have been fired by Ukrainian troops over 27 days.

Following a dramatic deterioration of the situation in Donbass on February 17, Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 21 announced a decision to recognize the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. The treaties on friendship, cooperation and mutual aid were signed with their leaders. On February 22, the State Duma and the Federation Council ratified both documents and Putin signed the respective laws on the same day. On February 24, Putin said that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.