MOSCOW. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The Russian military has reported improving its frontlines in the Avdeyevka sector and taking better positions in the Donetsk sector in the past 24 hours.
"In the Avdeyevka sector, units from the central group of forces continued to take better positions and frontlines and struck concentrations of troops and hardware of the 24th and 53rd Mechanized Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Additionally, four counterattacks by assault groups of the 59th Mechanized Brigade and the 3rd Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were repelled near Lastochkino and Pervomaiskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic," the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.
In that area, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 425 troops, a tank, four armored combat vehicles and five trucks over the past day, the ministry said.
"In the Donets sector, units from the southern group of forces improved their frontline positions and struck units of the 28th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 241st Territorial Defense Brigade near Kurdyumovka and Krasnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic and repelled an attack by assault groups of the 42nd Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Bogdanovka in the Donetsk People's Republic," it said.
There, Ukrainian forces lost over 395 troops, three tanks, including a Leopard, three M113 armored personnel carriers, four armored combat vehicles and nine trucks, and counterbattery measures hit a Krab self-propelled artillery system, a D-20 howitzer, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system and a D-30 howitzer, the ministry said.
"In the Kherson sector, combined efforts of units from the Dnepr group of forces and artillery hit units of the 65th and 118th Mechanized Brigades and the 82nd Air Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Rabotino, Orekhov and Verbovoye in the Zaporozhye region," it said.
In that area, Ukrainian forces lost up to 120 troops, three pickup trucks, an M777 artillery system, an M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system, a Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, and a D-30 howitzer, the ministry said.
"In the southern Donetsk sector, units from the eastern group of forces struck formations of the 108th Territorial Defense Brigade near Lugovskoye in the Zaporozhye region. A counterattack by an assault group of the 58th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was repelled near Shevchenko in the Zaporozhye region," it said.
Ukrainian forces lost up to 190 troops, a tank and four vehicles, while counterbattery measures hit an M777 artillery system, an FH-70 howitzer, an MT-12 Rapira anti-tank gun, and a Bukovel-AD ECM station in the area over the past day, the ministry said.
"In the Kupyansk sector, units from the western group of forces hit units of the 30th and 32nd Mechanized Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and repelled four counterattacks of the enemy near Sinkovka in the Kharkov region," it said.
In that area, Ukrainian forces lost up to 45 troops and two pickup trucks, and counterbattery measures hit a Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery system, three Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, and an M119 system, the ministry said.