Servicemen of the 9th Regiment of the DPR People's Militia. Archival photoDONETSK, June 12 The people's militia of the Donetsk People's Republic reported that over the current day, together with the Russian army, they destroyed more than 20 Ukrainian soldiers, two BM-21 Grad MLRS, two D-30 howitzers and three cargo vehicles.» Over the current day, the joint actions of the military personnel of the Donetsk People's Republic and the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation destroyed the following enemy weapons and military equipment: two MLRS BM — 21 «Grad», two D-30 howitzers, three cargo vehicles and more than 20 enemy personnel. Three enemy firing points in the area of the settlement of Marinka were suppressed,» the message published on the Telegram channel of the People's Militia of the DPR 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.
