Doha: The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that more than 600 Ukrainian soldiers were killed during a combined air and missile strike targeting positions in Donetsk.

According to Qatar News Agency, the ministry explained that the strike was carried out using Iskander missiles, FAB-500 aerial bombs, and drones, which targeted temporary deployment sites of Ukrainian forces. This operation resulted in the killing of hundreds of soldiers and the destruction of four rocket launchers, three tanks, 42 infantry fighting vehicles, four electronic warfare stations, an ammunition depot, a command post, and 10 shelters.

The Russian Defense Ministry also announced earlier that its forces had taken control of the villages of Sredniy and Klipan-Bik in the Donetsk region. Since the outbreak of the conflict in February 2022, Russia has sought to establish full control over the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia, which it declared annexed the same year.