Fighters of the People's Militia of the DPR . Archival photoDONETSK, June 21. Since the beginning of the special operation, full control over 239 settlements has been established on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic, the headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR said on Tuesday. Earlier, the headquarters reported that the forces of the DPR and LPR with fire support The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation liberated and established full control over 238 settlements in the Donetsk People's Republic the settlement of Lomakino, which was temporarily under the control of Ukraine, will be included in the zone of influence and responsibility of cities and regions of the Donetsk People's Republic. Thus, since the beginning of the special military operation in the Donetsk People's Republic, full control has been established over 239 settlements,» the report says. in a message posted on the staff's Telegram channel. 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.
