DONETSK, June 19. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces shelled the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) 59 times in the past 24 hours, killing five civilians and wounding 24 more people, the DPR mission to the Joint Ceasefire Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) reported on Sunday.

According to the agency, several districts in the capital of the DPR, the cities of Makeevka, Gorlovka and Yasinovataya, as well as the villages of Golmovsky, Panteleymonovka, Mikhailovka, Zaitsevo, Mineralnoe and Yakovlevka, came under fire, 36 houses and 19 civil infrastructure facilities were damaged. The fire was conducted from multiple launch rocket systems and cannon artillery, including NATO caliber 155 mm.

"Over the past 24 hours, the mission received reports about the death of five civilians, including two employees of the DPR Ministry of Emergency Situations," the mission said on Telegram channel adding that there were two children among wounded.

The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.

On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.