The Russian Ministry of Defense, represented by Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, stated in a briefing that in the Donetsk sector the Russian armed forces eliminated roughly 260 Ukrainian servicemen in the last 24 hours, according to the ministry’s daily brief. The claim emphasized that an intense combination of active combat and artillery fire from units within the South group contributed to these losses in a single day.
Additionally, the defense ministry reported that Russian units destroyed three tanks, one infantry fighting vehicle, three armored fighting vehicles, eight support vehicles, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, and two common gun systems, the MSTA-B and the D-20 howitzers, as part of ongoing operations in the same timeframe.
The ministry also noted progress on a separate front, claiming that Russian forces were advancing toward the Kherson region and that fourteen Ukrainian soldiers were neutralized in that area during the same period.
On February 24, 2022, President Vladimir Putin announced an order to commence a special military operation in Ukraine, citing a request for assistance from the heads of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. This decision became the basis for subsequent sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies, a development that has continued to shape international responses to the conflict.
Broadcast coverage of these events has been carried by various outlets, including open transmission sites, as reported by Socialbites.ca (Source: Socialbites.ca).