Russian air defense units have shot down 15 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the special military operation zone including the territory of the Lugansk People’s Republic over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
“(Over the past 24 hours) air defense units intercepted ten high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) missiles,” the report said. “Fifteen Ukrainian drones were eliminated in the areas of Verkhnekamenka and Lisichansk (LPR), Staromikhailovka and Gorlovka (DPR), Ocheretovatoye and Chistopolye in the Zaporozhye region and Novaya Kakhovka in the Kherson region.”
On the Kupyansk axis, Task Force “West” units, supported by aircraft and artillery, inflicted damage on the enemy in the areas of Artyomovka (LPR) and Sinkovka, Berestovoye and Ivanovka in the Kharkov region. The Ukrainian army lost up to 20 servicemen, two German-manufactured Leopard tanks and three cars.
One Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer, one German Panzerhaubitze-2000, two Msta-B howitzers, one D-30 gun and one Rapira anti-tank gun were eliminated in counterbattery duels. An ammunition depot of Ukraine's 113th Territorial Defense Brigade was destroyed in the area of Liptsy in the Kharkov region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
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The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014. The peace talks failed to reach tangible results due to Kiev’s position to settle the conflict by force.
President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation on February 24, 2022 to protect Donbass residents from Ukrainian aggression. Prior to that, LPR and DPR Heads Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin asked the Russian leader to provide military assistance.*i*sb
