Kiev, February 19: About 25,000 residents of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) have already crossed the border with Russia, fleeing the escalation of violence in Donbas, a spokesperson for the LPR Emergencies Ministry said on Saturday.

On Friday, the LPR and the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) announced the evacuation of their citizens to Russia's Rostov Region over the escalation of tensions on the contact line. Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Uptick in Russian Disinformation Could Be Pretext for War Against Ukraine, Says US President Joe Biden.

"25,000 LPR citizens have crossed the border," the spokesperson told the Russian acting emergencies minister, adding that these are those who used personal cars.

He added that three more convoys with a total of 10,000 refugees are being currently formed.

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