"The Ukrainian armed forces lost more than 400 servicepeople, a tank, three armored fighting vehicles, 17 vehicles, two field artillery pieces, and an electronic warfare station," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia's Battlegroup Vostok has eliminated up to 245 Ukrainian soldiers, the ministry also said, adding that Kiev has lost over 240 military personnel in battles with Russia's Battlegroup Sever.
The Russian armed forces liberated eight settlements over the first two weeks of January, with over 115.8 square miles of land coming under Russian control, Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said.
"In the first two weeks of January, eight settlements were liberated, and over 300 square kilometers of land came under our control," Gerasimov said during an inspection of Battlegroup Tsentr operations.
He added that the most intense fighting had unfolded within the area of responsibility of the Tsentr group.
"The offensive by formations and military units of the Joint Group of Forces is being conducted in almost all directions," Gerasimov stated.
This Thursday, the Russian chief of the general staff is inspecting the progress of the Tsentr group operating in the Dnepropetrovsk direction in the special military operation zone.