Russian forces liberated key town in Donetsk: Kremlin

 
Russian forces liberated the settlement of Yelizavetovka in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defense Ministry said, reports TASS. "Units of the battle group Center liberated the settlement of Yelizavetovka in the Donetsk People's Republic as a result of active and decisive operations," it said in a statement. Additionally, damage was inflicted on formations of four Ukrainian mechanized brigades, an assault brigade, a jaeger brigade, an unmanned systems brigade, an assault regiment, a Marines brigade and three National Guard brigades in the areas of the settlements of Novoekonomicheskoye, Zverevo, Kotlino, Udachnoye, Alekseyevka, Novopavlovka, Krasnoarmeysk, Novosergeyevka, Miroliubovka and Preobrazhenka in the Donetsk People's Republic. Ukraine lost more than 435 servicemen, two Kozak armored fighting vehicles, seven pickup trucks and eight field artillery guns, including a US-made Paladin 155mm self-propelled artillery unit.

Air defenses shot down a Ukrainian-operated F-16 fighter jet and more than 200 drones over the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Air defenses shot down a Ukrainian F-16 aircraft, eight JDAM guided aerial bombs, seven US-made HIMARS missiles and 207 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles," it said in a statement. Since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces have destroyed a total of 661 Ukrainian warplanes, 283 helicopters, 51,335 unmanned aerial vehicles, 601 surface-to-air missile systems, 22,817 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,535 multiple launch rocket systems.

, 23,556 field artillery guns and mortars and 34,048 special military motor vehicles.

Russian forces hit a Ukrainian storage site of tactical missiles, an airfield and a training center for drone operators, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

>>Agency

"Tactical aviation, attack drones, rocket forces and artillery of Russian battle groups hit the infrastructure of a Ukrainian military airfield, a storage site of weapons and ammunition, a training center for drone operators, a storage site of tactical missiles and temporary bases of Ukrainian armed formations and mercenaries in 141 areas," it said in a statement.