OREANDA-NEWS. Servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who lay down their arms and go to the positions of the People's Militia will receive an amnesty, RIA Novosti reports.

This was stated by the head of the Luhansk People's Republic Leonid Pasechnik.

“I propose to the armed formations of Ukraine to surrender, to lay down their arms in order to avoid human casualties as much as possible. This will guarantee that they will have an absolute opportunity to live in a free, democratic, independent state,” said Pasechnik.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the Ukrainian military was leaving their positions en masse, throwing their weapons.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he had decided to conduct a military special operation to protect Donbass in response to a request for help from the heads of the LPR and DPR.

Ukraine has introduced martial law throughout the country.

Explosions are heard in Kiev, Kharkov, Odessa and other large cities of the country. According to preliminary data, they are heard from the military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.