The Russian Ministry of Defense released a daily summary claiming that approximately 30 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were eliminated in the Yuzhnodonetsk and Zaporozhye directions. The official bulletin attributes these losses to air and artillery strikes conducted by Vostok troops against Ukrainian units located in the Nikolskoye and Novopol areas of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The same report states that three sabotage and reconnaissance groups operating in the settlements of Vladimirovka, Mirnoye and Nikolskoye were neutralized. Throughout the day, the summary indicates about 30 Ukrainian soldiers were destroyed in these zones.
The MoD bulletin also reports damage to Ukrainian armor, in addition to two pickup trucks and two ammunition depots belonging to Ukrainian forces within the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Zaporozhye region. In a briefing preceding this update, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, the official representative for the Russian Ministry of Defense, said that Ukrainian forces in the Yuzhnodonetsk and Zaporozhye directions experienced losses of up to 70 personnel. The statement underscores ongoing hostilities in these fronts according to the Russian account.
Background context is provided by a separate historical note. On February 24, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision to organize a special military operation in Ukraine in response to requests for aid from the heads of the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. The move was described by the Kremlin as a response to those appeals, and it subsequently influenced international diplomatic and economic relations. Analysts often view the action as a defining moment in a broader regional conflict that has drawn extensive global attention and triggered a range of sanctions and policy responses from the United States and allied nations. The official Russian narrative presents the operation as a protective or corrective measure, while many observers characterize it as an escalation with wide humanitarian and geopolitical implications. Observers continue to monitor the ongoing developments and the different sides’ statements, which often conflict in detail but align in noting sustained military activity across multiple fronts.