DPR. Donetsk. A serviceman near fragments of a Tochka-U missile at an oil depot on Neftyanaya Street in the Kirovsky district that came under shelling. The situation on the line of contact in Donbass escalated on the morning of February 17. The DPR and LPR reported the most intense shelling from Ukraine in recent months. On February 24, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military special operation in response to the appeal of the heads of the DPR and LPR for military assistance. Alexander Ryumin/TASS