RUSSIA – The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday that its forces had complete control of the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).

“Units of the West military group have completed the liberation of the Luhansk People’s Republic,” it said in a statement.

In other reports, the ministry said that air defenses had downed 261 drones, 10 guided aerial bombs and a HIMARS rocket launched from Ukraine.

“Air defense systems shot down ten guided aerial bombs, a US-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket system, and 261 aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles,” it said.

In another statement, the ministry stated that at least 255 Ukrainian military personnel had been killed in the last 24 hours in the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

“Three mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, a territorial defense brigade, and two National Guard brigades were defeated 
near the settlements of Veseloye, Vovchanskie Khutora, Izbitskoye, Nesternoye, and Pokalyanoye in the Kharkiv region. In the Sumy region, the manpower and equipment of two territorial defense brigades were defeated near the settlements of Volnaya Sloboda and Pokrovka in the Sumy region,” the statement said.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 255 service members, 10 vehicles, and three artillery pieces. An electronic warfare station, four ammunition depots, a fuel depot, and five supply depots were destroyed,” it added.