YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 24, ARMENPRESS. Some Armenians living in Donetsk are being evacuated but most of the Armenian residents prefer to stay, according to Vahagn Matevosyan, the President of the Donetsk Representation of the Union of Armenians of Ukraine.

“We had actually prepared the evacuation plan weeks ago. The Armenians in Donetsk region who wanted to leave have left. There were some Armenians who wanted to leave but didn’t have cars so we supported them. But a very large segment prefers to stay in Donetsk, they don’t want to leave their homes,” Matevosyan said.

He said there are large queues outside pharmacies, banks, gas stations and ATMs in Donetsk, like elsewhere. People are unable to withdraw money from ATMs.

“Sounds of gunfire are heard in the city, we feel that heavy artillery is firing, but I find it difficult to convey specific details now. I can only say that there are no victims among Armenians,” Matevosyan told ARMENPRESS’s Anna Gziryan.

Russia has begun a military operation in Ukraine following a request from the authorities of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics for assistance in repelling Kiev’s military aggression, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in urgent address on Thursday.

He said that Moscow would seek the "demilitarization and denazification" of Ukraine, called upon the Ukrainian army to lay down weapons and warned there would follow a prompt response to attempts at foreign intervention from outside.