Fighters of the People's Militia of the DPR. Archival photoDONETSK, 29 Apr. The people's militia of the Donetsk People's Republic reported that on Friday, the DPR forces liquidated 26 Ukrainian nationalists, one infantry fighting vehicle and one armored personnel carrier. «Since the beginning of the current day, our servicemen have killed 26 Ukrainian nationalists, eight firing points, one infantry fighting vehicle and one armored personnel carrier. Two 122-mm D-30 howitzers and two cargo vehicles were captured,» the message published on the Telegram channel of the People's Militia reads. 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 Kyiv 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.
