On Saturday, Russian-backed separatist leaders in eastern Ukraine proclaimed a full military mobilization, a day after urging women and children to flee to southern Russia due to the possibility of violence.

Denis Pushilin, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic’s leader, said in a video message that he had issued a decree on mobilization and urged those “capable of holding a weapon in their hands” to report to military commissariats.

Soon after, another separatist commander, Leonid Pasechnik, issued a similar order for the Luhansk People’s Republic.

Separatist authorities on Friday announced plans to evacuate around 700,000 people, citing fears of an imminent attack by Ukrainian forces – an accusation Kyiv flatly denied.

Less than 7,000 people had been evacuated from Donetsk as of Saturday morning, the local emergencies ministry said.

The Ukrainian military said on Saturday it had recorded 12 ceasefire violations by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in the morning after 66 cases in the previous 24 hours.

Separatist authorities also reported what they said was shelling by Ukrainian forces of several villages on Saturday.

Both sides regularly trade blame for ceasefire violations.