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The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Denis Pushilin, reported on the battle of the Republic's popular forces with Ukrainian troops near the border with Russia.

According to Pushilin, the situation in the direction of Mariupol has sharply deteriorated. Ukrainian Militants of the 36th Brigade attacked the positions of the People's Police units in the Komenternovo region, according to a statement of the Donetsk Presidency, a copy of which was obtained by Al Mayadeen.

The statement details that a battle is ongoing on the border with Russia, stressing that the situation has worsened and become critical within the last 24 hours, with Ukraine carrying out the intense bombing of the land.

The statement from the presidency described that the Ukrainian armed forces fired more than 1,700 shells at residential areas, bombarding Donetsk with heavy artillery, mortars, grenades, and tanks. "People are dying," noted the statement.

قصف أوكراني يدمر نقطة لحرس الحدود الروسي داخل الأرضية الروسية على بعد 150 مترا عن الحدود مع #أوكرانيا pic.twitter.com/d3BunTDHyt

— Maxim Altoury (@Altoury) February 21, 2022

An explosion occurred near the airport area in the Donetsk Republic, according to a Sputnik correspondent who reported hearing a strong explosion.

Al Mayadeen's envoy to Ukraine reported today that the shelling of Donetsk was renewed from the Burgas area on the border between Donbass and Ukraine. 

Al Mayadeen's envoy to Crimea reported that the residents of Simferopol are collecting humanitarian aid for Donbass, weighing some 20 tons. 

According to Donetsk media, due to the Ukrainian bombing, the ventilation fan in one of the mines, where 266 workers are working underground, has failed.

The police force in Donetsk announced today that the Ukrainian army has begun plotting to attack Donetsk. One police officer was killed as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian forces.

Basurin says law enforcement hunting down Ukrainian sabotage groups

The official representative of the People's Police of the Donetsk Republic, Eduard Basurin, announced that the Republic's law enforcement and military bodies are looking for two Ukrainian sabotage groups.

In statements he made on Russian television, he disclosed that officials of the Ministry of the Interior, along with the army, are conducting searches to find and eliminate these two groups.

According to Basurin, this morning the saboteurs entered the territory of the Donetsk Republic during the bombing of the village of Komenternovo. 

He also added that one of the group's tasks is to detonate missile and artillery depots, and the second group moved toward Novoazovskoye to destabilize the region.

Ukraine violates ceasefire in Donetsk 54 times in 24 hours

Today, Monday, the representative office of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic of the Ceasefire Coordination Center announced that the Ukrainian forces violated the ceasefire agreement 54 times within 24 hours, using weapons prohibited under the Minsk agreements.

Hours ago, the State Security Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said that a Ukrainian sabotage group infiltrated into the DPR territory on Monday, adding that an arms depot was blown up as a result.

Basurin reported that in two days, about two thousand shells were fired on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic.

Russia announces the arrival of 61,000 refugees

Acting Russian Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan revealed Monday that around 61,000 citizens of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Luhansk and Donetsk (LPR, DPR) had crossed the border into Russia's Rostov Region as part of an evacuation amid the escalation in eastern Ukraine.

The first train bringing refugees from Donbass landed in Russia's Volgograd area on Sunday, and 443 people were transported to temporary shelters.

In a statement, authorities revealed that up to 443 persons are being delivered to temporary accommodation centers, including 166 children under 14 and nine newborns. 

Early Sunday, more than 40,000 refugees arrived in the Rostov region, south of Russia.