About 18,000 People Evacuated From Donbas, Ukraine To Russia In Past Day- Defense Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2022) Nearly 18,000 people have been evacuated to Russia over the past 24 hours from dangerous areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) and Ukraine, head of the Russian National Defense Control Center, Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev, who also leads Russia's humanitarian response coordination headquarters, said.

"Despite all the difficulties created by Kiev, over the past day, without participation of the Ukrainian authorities, 17,733 people, including 1,797 children, were evacuated to the territory of the Russian Federation from dangerous areas of the Donetsk, Lugansk People's Republics and Ukraine," Col.

Gen. Mizintsev said.

He said that since the beginning of Russia's special military operation, more than 1,325,000 people, including nearly 226,000 children, have been evacuated to Russia.

Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to calls from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics for protection against intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine. Moscow has said it has no plans to occupy Ukraine. Western nations have imposed sanctions on Russia and Belarus.