Russia has carried out strikes targeting Ukraine's energy facilities, the military-industrial complex, railway junctions, and ammunition depots, the Russian Ministry of Defense has announced.
"Between March 16 and 22, in response to the shelling of our territory and attempts to break through and seize Russian border settlements, the Armed Forces carried out 49 retaliatory strikes using high-precision long-range air-launched weapons, including Kinzhal aeroballistic hypersonic missiles, other missile systems and unmanned aerial vehicles," the MoD said in a statement Friday.
"As a result of the strikes, decision-making centers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, airfield infrastructure facilities, workshops for the repair of weapons and military equipment, storage depots for unmanned aerial vehicles and drone boats, logistics bases, as well as the temporary deployment points for special operations units and foreign mercenaries were hit," the ministry said.
Friday's operations included "a massive strike using high-precision long-range air, sea and ground-based weapons and unmanned aerial vehicles against energy facilities, [Ukraine's] military-industrial complex, railway junctions, arsenals, and places of deployment of Ukrainian forces and foreign mercenaries," the MoD said.
According to the Russian Defense Ministry's information, the attacks left Ukraine's military production and repair facilities in disarray.
Furthermore, the strikes targeted foreign military equipment delivered to Ukraine by its NATO patrons, disrupted the transfer of reserves to the front, and hit Ukrainian and merc forces in rear areas where they were being refitted.
"All the goals of the massed strike have been achieved," the MoD said.
On the front, the Defense Ministry reported battles with Ukrainian forces in five settlements in the Kharkov region, two settlements in the Lugansk People's Republic, and fighting to repel Ukrainian attacks in the settlement of Sinkovka in the Kharkov region and Terny in the Donetsk People's Republic. "Enemy losses amounted to up to 400 troops, three tanks, three armored fighting vehicles, 25 other vehicles and 19 artillery pieces," the MoD said.
Over the course of the week, Ukrainian attempts to break into the Russian border regions of Belgorod and Kursk were repulsed "thanks to the coordinated actions of the forces guarding the state border of the Russian Federation," the MoD said, adding that Ukraine's forces had lost "over 3,000 personnel" and militants, seven tanks, 15 armored vehicles, and 17 other vehicles over the course of these operations.
In the DPR, Russian forces continued their advance in the Avdeyevka area of the front, repulsing 42 counterattacks and killing over 2,195 enemy troops, destroying two tanks, 21 armored vehicles, 65 other vehicles, and 28 field guns, capturing the Alabastrovaya Railway Station, targeting Ukrainian forces in seven enemy-held settlements, and repelling 10 attempted counterattacks, with total Ukrainian losses estimated at 1,885+ troops, six tanks, 13 armored vehicles, 41 other vehicles, 17 artillery pieces, and nine ammunition depots.
In the southern Donetsk area, the MoD reported on the liberation of the village of Mirnoye in Zaporozhye, with five enemy counterattacks repulsed and Ukrainian forces losing 935 troops, three tanks, 11 armored vehicles, 25 other vehicles, and seven field artillery guns.
In the Kherson area of the front, the MoD reported continued attacks on Ukrainian forces in Rabotino, Stepanogorsk, Shcherbaki, Stepnoye, Ivanovka, and Nikolskoye, with enemy losses estimated at over 330 troops, 22 vehicles, and 11 field artillery pieces.
Behind the lines, Russian missile and drone strikes between March 16 and 22 reportedly hit nine Czech-made Vampire MLRS systems, a German IRIS-T anti-aircraft missile system battery, two US-made counter-battery radar stations - an AN/TPQ-50 and an AN/TPQ-36, and four Ukrainian-made Enklav-N, Nota, and Bukovel-AD electronic warfare stations.
Finally, military aviation and air defense troops reportedly destroyed a Ukrainian Mi-8 helicopter, shot down two Tochka-U tactical missiles, two S-200 anti-aircraft missiles converted for use for ground attacks, 156 HIMARS, Vampire, Grad, Olha, and Uragan rockets, and 992 drones.