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MOSCOW, Feb. 21 Russian President Vladimir Putin said that he had not discussed the issue with members of the Security Council in advance recognition of the Donbass. Earlier, the head of the self-proclaimed LPR, Leonid Pasechnik, as well as the head of the self-proclaimed DPR, Denis Pushilin, asked the Russian president to recognize the independence of the two republics. «I didn't discuss anything, I didn't ask your opinion in advance. And what's happening now, it's happening directly, as they say, from scratch, because I wanted to know your opinion without any preliminary preparation. I consider this extremely important,» Putin said at an extraordinary meeting of the Security Council. The situation in the Donbass has escalated in recent days, the self-proclaimed DNR and LNR announced a lot of shelling by Ukrainian security forces. The leadership of the DPR and LPR announced the temporary evacuation of citizens to the Rostov region in connection with the threat of Ukraine's invasion. It primarily concerns women, children and the elderly. As stated by the head of the DPR Denis Pushilin, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky will soon order the military to launch an offensive in the Donbass, to implement a plan to invade the DPR and LPR. On Saturday, the leaders of the DPR and LPR signed decrees on general mobilization.The development of the situation in the Donbass is in the online report >>