Around 4 p.m., a "civil defense" siren sounded in Donetsk. Social network users and local Telegram channels posted videos of the siren, as well as of locals at ATMs and terminals withdrawing cash.
The leaders of the "DPR" and "LPR" militants have made statements about the mass evacuation of the local population to the Rostov region.
However, the Kremlin said that it had not heard anything about the evacuation of the population.
For example, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he knew nothing about the evacuation of residents of the ORDLO to the Rostov region, Russian media noted. "I don't know what is going on at Pushilin's place right now," Peskov said. He also did not answer a question about whether Russia would accept ORDLO residents. "I don't know who the contacts were with, I have no information," he said.
Meanwhile, local residents tell Ukrainian media that the panic is "fake" and no one is going to leave Donetsk.
"There was indeed a siren. But we can see that the panic is being stirred up by the "authorities" themselves. First of all, it is strange that in Rostov itself is not aware that they want to bring half of Donetsk to them, and secondly, we personally no one is shooting straight to the point where they want to leave somewhere," a resident of Donetsk told UNN reporters.
According to eyewitnesses, the shooting that takes place on the outskirts of Donetsk is "a regular occurrence that no one locals pay attention to anymore.
Aggravation was observed only on February 17, but today, according to locals, the city is calm.
"Personally, I'm not going anywhere for now. Because I don't see the point in it. My friends are the same way. I know that a few people from the entrance did decide to "evacuate", but one family has a small child there. If they take us to Rostov, they'll just tell us to go back on our own. And no one needs that," said a resident of Donetsk.
She also noted that the situation with cash withdrawals from ATMs is related to the issuance of salaries, so you can see a crowd of people there.
"Every frame, where there are a lot of people, is perceived as gathering people for evacuation. But that's not the case. People continue to work, and go about their business", - noted the eyewitness.
We note that earlier, the leader of the militants "DPR" Denis Pushilin announced the organization of mass centralized departure of the population to the Russian Federation since February 18.
Subsequently, a similar statement was made by Leonid Pasechnik, the leader of the "LPR" militants.
