MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Russian servicemen liberated six settlements in the special military operation zone during the New Year holidays from December 31 to January 11, according to TASS calculations based on the Russian Defense Ministry’s reports.

In the Zaporozhye Region, the battlegroups East and Dnepr liberated two settlements: Zelenoye and Belogorye. The battlegroup North took control of the Grabovskoye settlement in the Sumy Region, the battlegroup West liberated Podoly in the Kharkov Region, the battlegroup East captured Bratskoye in the Dnepropetrovsk Region, while the battlegroup South seized control of Bondarnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic.

On December 29, Russian Armed Forces’ General Staff Chief Army General Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin that Russian troops had liberated 334 settlements over the course of the year, bringing more than 6,600 square kilometers of territory under their control. According to Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, December was a record month in terms of the pace of the Russian Armed Forces' advance.