"During the two days of unsuccessful attacks on the Nikolayev-Krivoy Rog and other directions, Ukrainian troops lost four combat aircraft — two Su-25s, one Su-24 and one MiG-29. Three Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopters were shot down in the air. Russian troops destroyed 63 Ukrainian tanks, 59 infantry fighting vehicles, 48 other armored fighting vehicles, 14 pickup trucks with large-calibre machine guns and over 1,700 Ukrainian soldiers," the ministry said in a statement.
The 57th Motorized Brigade of the Ukrainian ground forces was defeated near the Sukhoy Stavok village, the statement read.
On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation to demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine after the country's breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Kiev's aggression.