Head of the DPR Denis PushilinDONETSK, Mar 12The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, signed a decree according to which the settlements of the republic, previously under the control of Ukraine, are returned to the names that existed since the time of the USSR, the headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR reported. former Donetsk region as of May 11, 2014, when a referendum on self-determination was held in the region. In addition, the names of settlements as of the same date will be used in the same territories, according to a document published on the HQ's Telegram channel. />Advance detachments of the People's Militia of the LPR reached the outskirts of Severodonetsk. In Ukraine, in May 2015, a number of laws on decommunization came into force, including the renaming of settlements and streets named after Soviet state and party leaders, as well as activists of the communist movement. In particular, on the territory of the DPR controlled by Kiev, the cities of Krasnoarmeysk and Artyomovsk were renamed, named after the revolutionary, founder of the Donetsk-Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic Fedor Sergeev, known under the pseudonym «Comrade Artyom». On March 11, the head of the neighboring LPR, Leonid Pasechnik, signed a decree according to which the streets in the liberated settlements of the republic, the names that were in effect until 2015 will be used.The Russian Armed Forces destroyed 3,593 military facilities in Ukraine Also on March 11, the representative of the People's Militia of the DPR, Eduard Basurin, announced the transfer of the city of Volnovakha under the control of the republic. This regional center is located on the highway between Donetsk and Mariupol, the second largest city in the republic, which has been controlled by the Ukrainian side since 2014. According to the headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR on March 12, the forces of the republic took control of 85 settlements. Mariupol, the largest city on the coast of Azov, is completely surrounded, and a cleansing of its individual areas is already underway. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24th. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. With the support of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the DPR and LPR groups are developing an offensive. But the occupation of Ukraine is out of the question, the President of Russia emphasized.
