People evacuated from the Donetsk People's Republic are pictured at the Uspenka border checkpoint at the border between Russia and the Donetsk People's Republic, in the Donetsk region, self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Eastern Ukraine. Amid the escalating conflict in east Ukraine, on February 18, 2022, the heads of the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics announced a mass evacuation of civilians to Russia.