Fighters of the People's Militia of the DPR. Archive photoDONETSK, May 22. The people's militia of the Donetsk People's Republic reported that three DPR servicemen were killed in a day, another 24 were injured.»We regret to inform you that over the past day in the struggle for independence, three defenders of the Donetsk People's The republics died in the line of military duty and 24 were injured,» the agency said in a statement on its Telegram channel. It is noted that on Sunday, four servicemen of the 25th airborne brigade of the Ukrainian troops voluntarily laid down their arms and went over to the side of the DPR. Russia began military operation in Ukraine on 24 February. 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.
