DPR servicemen at a checkpoint. Archival photoDONETSK, May 22. A grouping of troops from the DPR and LPR, with fire support from the RF Armed Forces, liberated and established full control over 216 settlements on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic, the headquarters of the territorial defense of the republic said. «As of 22 On May 2022, on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic, a group of troops of the DPR and LPR, with fire support from the RF Armed Forces, liberated and established full control over 216 settlements,» the Headquarters' Telegram channel reports. 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.
