T-72 tank of the DPR armed forces near the village of Slavnoe, Donetsk regionDONETSK, Apr 1 The forces of the Donetsk People's Republic liberated and established full control over 136 settlements, the headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR reports. «, — the message in the Telegram channel says. Earlier, the headquarters reported 135 liberated settlements in the DPR. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
