DONETSK, March 19. /TASS/. Four servicemen of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) were killed and 21 were wounded during the past day, Eduard Basurin, deputy chief of the DPR People’s Militia, said on Saturday.

"Regrettably, four DPR soldiers were killed and 21 were wounded while fighting for independence during the past day," he said and extended condolences to the families of those killed.

The situation along the contact line in Donbass deteriorated dramatically in the morning of February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People‘s Republics reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian armed forces over the past months. Casualties among civilians and damages to civil infrastructure facilities have been reported. On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aimed to demilitarize and denazify the country.