According to Defense Ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Ukrainian artillery struck 407 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment, 13 command posts, four positions of the Osa-AKM air defense missile systems and 14 ammunition depots.

More than 280 nationalists lost their lives in these incursions by the Russian forces, while 59 military equipment were put out of service, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, air defense systems shot down nine Ukrainian drones on Tuesday evening, included four near the village of Balakleya, in the Kharkov region, and three in the city of Rubezhnoye, in Lugansk.

In total, since the beginning of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, the Moscow Army have destroyed 164 aircraft, 125 helicopters, 807 unmanned aerial vehicles, 302 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,998 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 360 multiple rocket launchers, 1,455 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,808 units of special military vehicles.

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics requested help to repel the increase in aggression and the heavy air strikes from Kiev.

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