57 Ukrainian military personnel, civilians killed in Russian intervention: Health minister

By Jeyhun Aliyev

KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AA) - At least 57 Ukrainian military personnel and civilians have been killed from Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, the Ukrainian health minister said on late Thursday.

Also, 169 people were injured during the military intervention, Viktor Lyashko said.

"Today, we suggested that those who can be treated on outpatient basis leave healthcare facilities in order to make them available to receive Ukrainians who will need to receive medical care. We did it throughout the territory along with the imposition of martial law," Lyashko said.

"We work with pharmaceutical factories, with drug distributors - everyone is ready, everyone is defending our state," he said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's Defense Ministry has announced that Russia has carried out at least 203 attacks since early morning.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine also announced that a total of 7,300 persons and 2,000 special fire and rescue equipment have been in service to eliminate the consequences of shelling, to extinguish the fires and to provide the assistance to the affected people.

The country's Joint Forces Operation in a statement said that the situation in the Donetsk operational district remains "tense, but is being controlled" by its troops.

"The shelling by the Russian occupation forces continues," it added.

In the direction of Donetsk, the hottest spots were Novotroitske, Novognativke, Pavlopov and Pishchevyk areas, the statement said.

In the direction of Luhansk, it added, the "fiercest battles" were fought in Schastia, Stanytsia Luhanska, Lobachevo, Bilovodsk, and Starobilsk.

- Donbas crisis and Russia's military intervention

The February 2014 “Maidan revolution” in Ukraine led to former President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and a pro-Western government coming to power.

That was followed by Russia illegally annexing the Crimea region and separatists declaring independence in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Donbas in eastern Ukraine, both of which have large ethnic Russian populations.

As clashes erupted between Russian-backed separatist forces and the Ukrainian army, the 2014 and 2015 Minsk agreements were signed in Moscow after the intervention of Western powers.

The conflict, however, simmered for years with persistent cease-fire violations.

As of February 2022, some 14,000 people have been killed in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Tensions started escalating late last year when Ukraine, the US and its allies accused Russia of amassing tens of thousands of troops on the border with Ukraine.

They claimed Russia was preparing to invade its western neighbor, allegations that were consistently rejected by Moscow.

Defying threats of sanctions by the West, Moscow officially recognized Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states earlier this week, followed by the start of a military operation in Ukraine on Thursday.

President Vladimir Putin said the operation aims to protect people “subjected to genocide” by Kyiv and to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine, while calling on the Ukrainian army to lay down its arms.