According to that entity, the Kiev troops used 122-millimeter caliber projectiles, considered a heavy weapon and prohibited by the Minsk agreements of September 2014 and February 2015, for a political solution to the internal conflict in Ukraine. Since the middle of this month, the Ukrainian government has increased its heavy artillery shelling of cities and settlements in the rebel region of Donbass.

Such a situation caused the evacuation to Russia so far of over 120,000 people, according to the Moscow Emergencies Ministry. But the number of refugees is expected to rise as fighting intensifies in recent days.

Russia launched a military operation in the Ukrainian autonomous region of Donbass on February 24, after the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics requested help to repel Kiev’s aggression.

Previously, Moscow recognized the independence and sovereignty of both territories and signed treaties of friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with those leaders, which included the establishment of diplomatic relations and military aid.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a televised speech, stated that the goal of the operation is to protect the population of Donbass from abuses and genocide by Kiev over the past eight years and to “demilitarize” Ukraine.

The attacks are aimed at military infrastructure, air defense facilities, airfields and military aviation with high-precision weapons, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. He stressed that the civilian population of Ukraine is not threatened.

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