LPR People's Militia Servicemen near Severodonetsk, Lugansk People's RepublicLUGANSK, March 13Ukrainian troops shelled two settlements of the Lugansk People's Republic within 10 minutes, the representative office of the republic in the JCCC reports. According to the representative office, shelling was recorded from 15.50 to 16.00 in Irmeno and Pervomaisk. Ukrainian troops fired 13 shells with a caliber of 122 mm at populated areas. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. 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 Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops, the civilian population is not in danger. 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.
