LUGANSK, April 20. /TASS/. Forces of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) took control over the city of Kremennaya on Tuesday, LPR People’s Militia spokesperson Ivan Filiponenko has said.

"The LPR flag has already been hoisted above the Kremennaya city administration, the Russian flag is also here already. This serves as convincing evidence that the city is fully under control of the LPR People’s Militia and the Russian Armed Forces," Filiponenko said.

The situation on the line of contact in Donbass escalated on February 17. The DPR and LPR reported the most intense shelling from Ukraine in recent months. On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced his recognition of the DPR and LPR’s sovereignty. Russia recognized the republics within the borders that have been established by their constitutions (the administrative borders of Donetsk and Lugansk regions at the beginning of 2014).

On February 24, 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. DPR and LPR started their operation to liberate their territories, which are under Kiev's control.