section_path: History/Prelude to full-scale invasion/Escalation in the Donbas
section_name: Escalation in the Donbas
paragraph_text: Escalation in the Donbas
  
  While Russian troops massed on Ukraine's borders, Russia's proxy forces launched thousands of attacks on Ukrainian troops in the Donbas. Observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which also includes Ukraine and Russia, reported more than 90,000 ceasefire violations throughout 2021; the vast majority in Russian-controlled territory.
  
  Fighting in Donbas escalated significantly from 17 February 2022 onwards. The Ukrainians and the pro-Russian separatists each accused the other of attacks. There was a sharp increase in artillery shelling by the Russian-led militants in Donbas. Ukraine and its supporters believed this to be an attempt to provoke the Ukrainian army to retaliate, to give Russia a pretext for invading. Ukraine's president Zelenskyy said that his military would not respond to the provocations. Separatist leaders warned that Ukraine was about to launch an offensive, but gave no evidence, and The Guardian noted that it would be "exceedingly risky" for Ukraine to assault the Donbas while Russian troops were massed on its borders. On 18 February, the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics ordered emergency evacuations of civilians, although observers noted that full evacuations would take months. The Russian government intensified its disinformation campaign, with Russian state media airing videos on a nearly hourly basis purporting to show Ukrainian forces attacking Russia. Evidence showed that Russia was staging false flag attacks.
  
  On 21 February at 22:35 (UTC+3), Putin announced that the Russian government would diplomatically recognize the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics. The same evening, Putin directed that Russian troops deploy into Donbas, in what Russia referred to as a " peacekeeping mission". On 22 February, the Federation Council unanimously authorised Putin to use military force outside Russia. In response, Zelenskyy ordered the conscription of army reservists; The following day, Ukraine's parliament proclaimed a 30-day nationwide state of emergency and ordered the mobilisation of all reservists. Russia began to evacuate its embassy in Kyiv.
  
  On the night of 23 February, Zelenskyy gave a speech in Russian in which he appealed to the citizens of Russia to prevent war. He rejected Russia's claims about neo-Nazis and stated that he had no intention of attacking the Donbas.