50 Russian soldiers killed: Claims Ukraine

Kyiv, Feb 24: As Russian strikes continued, Ukraine's military claimed at least "50 Russian occupiers" were killed. "Shchastya is under control. 50 Russian occupiers were killed. Another Russian plane was destroyed in the Kramatorsk district. This is the sixth," Ukraine's military said.

 

 

 

Ukraine's border guards said at least three military personnel were killed after Russian forces launched attacks in the border areas. Ukraine said the military death toll had risen to five amid Russian strikes on Thursday. The border guards said Russian forces were launching attacks with rockets and helicopters from several directions.

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Major General Valeriy Zaluzhny said President Zelensky had ordered its forces to "inflict maximum losses against the aggressor". Amid the attacks, Russia said it was closing shipping in the Azov Sea until further notice. Ukraine President's adviser Mykhailo Podoliak said: "The armed forces of Ukraine are waging heavy combat," while adding, "We have losses." 

 

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"In several places, the Russian armed forces have been repelled," the president's adviser added. The Ukrainian military claimed on Thursday to have downed five Russian planes and a helicopter in the east of the country near a rebel-held enclave. Weeks of intense diplomacy and the imposition of Western sanctions on Russia failed to deter Putin, who had massed between 150,000 and 200,000 troops along the borders of Ukraine. "I have made the decision of a military operation," Putin said in a surprise television announcement that triggered immediate condemnation from US President Joe Biden and other Western leaders and sent global financial markets into turmoil.