LIVE UPDATES: Kiev Preparing Offensive Along Entire Contact Line Territory, LPR Says

LUGANSK (Sputnik) - Kiev forces continued shelling the territory of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in Ukraine’s southeast (Donbas) in the early hours of Monday, the LPR mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination on the ceasefire regime (JCCC) said.

At 04:35 local time on Monday (02:35 GMT) Kiev forces shelled the Sadivnyche Tovarystvo "Prymiske" in LPR. As a result, at least one house was damaged or fully destroyed, according to preliminary data from LPR.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden is open to hold a joint summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, provided that there is no "assault on Ukraine" in the coming days, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said.

The Elysee Palace said on Sunday that French President Emmanuel Macron had proposed that Putin and Biden hold a joint summit, and both sides have accepted the idea in principle. The French presidency said after Macron’s Sunday phone talks with Putin and, separately, Biden, that the agenda of the summit is to be prepared by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during their upcoming meeting on February 24.

"Secretary Blinken and Foreign Minister Lavrov are scheduled to meet later this week in Europe, provided Russia does not proceed with military action. President Biden accepted in principle a meeting with President Putin following that engagement, again, if an invasion hasn’t happened," Psaki said in a Sunday statement.

She added that Washington is open for diplomacy but will impose "severe consequences" on Russia if it decides to "choose war."

"And currently, Russia appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon," Psaki claimed.

LUGANSK (Sputnik) - Two civilians were killed as a result of Kiev forces’ shelling of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in Ukraine’s southeast (Donbas), the LPR mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination on the ceasefire regime (JCCC) says.

Kiev forces shelled LPR settlements multiple times on Sunday night, using 120-mm mines prohibited under the Minsk peace deal.
"As a result, two civilians of the republic were killed, and one residential building in the LADA cooperative was completely destroyed," the LPR mission said.

DONETSK (Sputnik) - The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s (DPR) mission to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination on the ceasefire regime (JCCC) says that Kiev forces have shelled the village of Zaichenko using artillery prohibited under the Minsk agreements.

According to DPR, Kiev forces fired 12 122-mm caliber mines at Zaichenko, located in DPR, at around 02:55 (00:55 GMT) on Monday.

DPR also recorded the use of prohibited 120-mm caliber mines by Kiev forces in Donbas on Sunday night.

Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Helga Schmid said on Twitter on Sunday that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine "recorded increased use of heavy weapons proscribed by the Minsk agreement, resulting in rapidly increasing reports of damage and casualties."

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The military deployments of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are not designed to provoke conflict, a US State Department spokesperson told Sputnik commenting on the ongoing drills in Poland involving US soldiers.

"As we have said, NATO’s deployments are always defensive and proportionate. They are not designed to provoke conflict, but to prevent conflict," the spokesperson said.

Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said on Twitter on Sunday that the US soldiers who recently arrived in Poland had started military drills close to the border with Ukraine.

Moscow has expressed strong concerns over NATO's military activity near the Russian borders, which it deems a threat to its national security. Russia has pointed out that Western claims of a looming "invasion" of Ukraine appear to be used as a pretext for advancing NATO's military presence further eastward in Europe.

A total of 66 violations of the ceasefire regime on the part of Kiev forces were recorded in the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) in Ukraine’s southeast (Donbas) in the past 24 hours, according to spokesman for LPR people’s militia Ivan Filiponenko.

"As of 00:00 [22:00 GMT on Sunday], the Lugansk People's Republic's mission to the JCCC [Joint Center for Control and Coordination on the ceasefire regime] has already recorded 66 ceasefire violations. Ukrainian militants shelled 24 settlements of the republic. Weapons prohibited by the Minsk agreements are actively used," Filiponenko said in a statement.

According to LPR, the shelling by Kiev forces resulted in one civilian having his lower limb amputated in the village of Pryshyb. In addition, two residents of the village of Znamyanka received shrapnel wounds. Damage to residential buildings was also recorded.

Late on Sunday, Filiponenko said that the situation on the contact line in Donbas had deteriorated substantially in the past few hours, with Kiev forces constantly shelling LPR settlements.

A read-out provided by the White House states that the two world leaders "discussed ongoing diplomacy and deterrence efforts in response to military buildup on the borders of Ukraine." Additional details were not provided.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - US President Joe Biden held a meeting of the National Security Council devoted to the situation around Ukraine on Sunday, the White House said.

"Today, President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. convened a meeting of the National Security Council to discuss the latest developments regarding Russia’s military buildup on the borders of Ukraine," stated a brief one-sentence read-out provided by the White House.

The weekend alert also urged Americans to monitor local and international media outlets for updates on the ongoing border tensions, always be aware of one’s surroundings and to “notify friends and family of your safety,” among other actions.

LUGANSK (Sputnik) - The situation on the contact line in Donbas has substantially deteriorated within the past few hours on Sunday, the spokesman of People's Militia of the self-proclaimed LuGansk People's Republic, Ivan Filiponenko, said.
"The situation on the contact line has escalated significantly over the past hours," Filiponenko told reporters.

Ukraine's armed forces shell the LPR along the contact line and are supposed to prepare an offensive, the spokesman added.

"As we expected, after the preparatory measures, the opponent took a number of aggressive actions against the Lugansk People's Republic. In all directions of the contact line, the opponent undertook preparations for the supposed offensive actions, accompanied by active artillery shelling of the positions of the People's Militia and localities of the LPR both on the contact line and inland," Filiponenko said.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Kiev and Donbas have not agreed yet on convening of a meeting of a contact group, a source in Moscow told Sputnik on Sunday.

"There is no such an agreement yet," the source said, when asked about the possibility of such a meeting and the fact that Kiev and Donbas will agree on the issue.

VOLGOGRAD (Sputnik) - The first train carrying refugees from Donbas arrived in Russia's Volgograd region on Sunday, and 443 people are being taken to temporary accommodation centers, the regional authorities said.

"Today, the first train with refugees from Donbas arrived in the Volgograd region. As many as 443 people are being delivered to temporary accommodation centers - the places that have been prepared in accordance with tasks set by the governor," the authorities said in a statement.

Among the refugees, there are 166 children under the age of 14, including nine babies under one.

The temporary accommodation centers have been organized in Volgograd hotels and a health center, according to the statement.

Over 250 temporary accommodation centres in Russia with a total capacity of over 28,000 people are ready to host refugees from Donbass, the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations said.

"Currently, 30 regions of Russia have expressed readiness to receive forced migrants. So, on the territory of 28 subjects of the Central Federal District, Volga Federal District, Ural Federal District, North Caucasus Federal District, and Southern Federal District, 255 temporary accommodation centers with a total capacity of more than 28,000 people are ready," the ministry said in a statement.

A state of emergency has been imposed in some Russian regions over the flow of migrants, the ministry added.

"Currently, due to the arrival of a large number of residents of Donbass, a regional state of emergency has been declared in some regions of Russia - the Rostov, Voronezh, and Kursk regions," the ministry said.

The official mentioned that the LPR expects provocations from Ukraine in the near future. "We do not rule out that in the near future armed formations of Ukraine will undertake a number of provocations aimed at further escalation of the conflict and the continuation of the genocide of the Donbass people," Filiponenko said. The agency also detected intensification of all intelligence activities of Ukraine in the contact line.