MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/. Russian forces killed up to 55 Ukrainian troops and destroyed two armored vehicles and a howitzer in the Kupyansk area in the past day, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said on Saturday.

"In the Kupyansk area, airstrikes and artillery attacks carried out by the Battlegroup West hit enemy forces near Pershotravnevoye in the Kharkov Region and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic. In the past day, up to 55 Ukrainian troops were killed there; two combat armored vehicles, three cars and a D-20 howitzer were destroyed," he specified.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, two sabotage and reconnaissance groups were exposed near Kislovka in the Kharkov Region.