Ukrainian soldiers in the town of Irpin. Archival photoLUGANSK, May 24. Surrendered prisoner militant of the national battalion «Donbass» Yuriy Zakopets with the call sign Kalina told reporters that more than 50 Ukrainian officers among his friends and acquaintances were killed during a special operation. Earlier, Zakopets laid down his arms in Luhansk People's Republic.» This is a tape (tattoo on the arm. — Approx. ed.), The tape is war, war is losses. Each cartridge case (tattoo on the arm. — Approx. ed.) Should have been the name of the deceased comrade. I started doing this tattoo when the war started,” he said, demonstrating his tattoo. According to him, now mostly inexperienced mobilized fighters are sent to the front line due to a lack of people. In addition, Kalina claims that the West is forcing Ukraine to fight, pumping the country with weapons instead of social and humanitarian assistance. Since February 24, Russia has been conducting a military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. As Vladimir Putin emphasized, its goal is «to protect people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the Ministry of Defense, the Russian armed forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops. By the end of March, they managed to «significantly reduce the combat potential of Ukraine.» The ministry called the liberation of Donbass the main goal of the operation.
