What’s going on in Donbass: shelling, evacuation and general mobilization 

On Saturday, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, announced a general mobilization.

"I decided to announce a general mobilization on the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic," the text of the decree of the head of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, Leonid Pasechnik, reads. According to the document, travel outside the LPR is prohibited for men aged 18-55 years.

Yesterday, the heads of the LPR and DPR announced the evacuation of the republics' residents (women, children and elders) to the territory of Russia.

Evacuation is carried out to the Rostov region. A state of emergency has been declared in the Russian region in connection with the flow of refugees. The region is ready to receive 12,000 people, but already more than 25,000 people are expected on Saturday afternoon.

Psychologists from the Russian EMERCOM will work with evacuees from the DPR and LPR.

The Russian authorities are providing support to the region: the Rostov region will receive more than 2 mln COVID-19 tests for refugees in the coming days, in addition, 5 bln rubles were allocated from the federal budget for payments to refugees- each will receive 10,000 rubles. Payments will be implemented within a day.

Checkpoints at the border are working round-the-clock exclusively for entry into the Russian Federation, Sergey Kudryashov, head of the border department of the Federal Security Service of Russia, informed.

Rostov hoteliers are asked to help with the accommodation of arriving. Residents of the DPR and LPR are being evacuated by buses and trains. 6,500 people have already arrived from the DPR, including 2, 500 children. During the night, 25,000 people left the LPR in their cars, and another 10,000 people will leave the LPR on Saturday, head of the LPR Ministry of Emergency Situations Yevgeny Katsavalov said.

The LPR reports that over the past day, the Ukrainian security forces violated the silence regime 31 times. Three settlements were subjected to mortar fire: Pervomaisk, Metalist and Slavyanoserbsk.

Today, more than 100 mines of various calibres have been fired across the territory of the DPR, as a result, the pipeline was damaged. On Saturday morning, the Armed Forces of Ukraine fired 51 mines in the DPR in less than an hour.

"The situation on the line of contact remains critical. Ukrainian punishers continue shelling civilian infrastructure and terrorizing the civilian population of our republic," Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the People's Militia Department of the DPR, said on Saturday.