Russian air defense units have shot down 40 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 reported.
“Air defense units intercepted three high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) projectiles,” the report said. “Forty-one Ukrainian UAVs were shot down in the areas of Maloryazantsevo and Lisichansk (LPR), Novoandreeyvka, Artyomovsk and Gorlovka in the Donetsk People's Republic and Kamenka-Dneprovskaya, Pologi and Tokmak in the Zaporozhye region.”
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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
