ROSTOV-ON-DON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th March, 2022) ON-DON, Russia, March 20 (Sputnik) - Over 12,000 people evacuated from the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics (DPR and LPR) have crossed the Russian border in the last 24 hours, the Border Directorate of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) for the Rostov Region said on Sunday.
The DPR and LPR began evacuating civilians to Russia on February 18, after reporting an increase in shelling by the Ukrainian troops. This past Monday, acting Russian Minister for Emergency Situations Alexander Chupriyan said that the total number of Donbas evacuees in Russia neared 250,000.
"Over the past 24 hours, more than 12,000 citizens have crossed the border to enter Russia through checkpoints located in the Rostov region," the authority said.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine responding to calls for help from the DPR and LPR in defending themselves against the aggression of Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the operation was targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only.
On Friday, United Nations Refugee Agency spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told a briefing that since February 24, the number of refugees from Ukraine abroad exceeded 3.2 million, of which almost 185,000 came to Russia.
