MELITOPOL, December 15. /TASS/. Reconnaissance units attached to Russia’s Southern Military District have disrupted the rotation of Ukrainian troops near Rabotino in the Zaporozhye Region, with the Ukrainian military losing over 30 men in the failed maneuver, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"Reconnaissance drones of the Southern Military District working with barrel artillery squads disrupted the rotation of Ukrainian servicemen deployed at forward positions near Rabotino in the Zaporozhye Region. With the help of a reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] equipped with thermal imaging equipment, the Russian forces detected a gathering of Ukrainian nationalists preparing for the rotation of personnel," the statement read.

It added that Russian reconnaissance scouts immediately communicated the coordinates of the identified Ukrainian positions to the artillery control center, and then adjusted the fire of 152 mm Msta-B howitzers to destroy the enemy's manpower. "As a result of the joint work of the reconnaissance unit and the barrel artillery squads, the enemy's losses amounted to two vehicles and up to 35 servicemen," the ministry added.

According to the statement, the scouts not only identify places where enemy personnel and military equipment are deployed, but also direct and adjust fire.

"We work to identify infantry groups, observation posts, locations, rotation routes and equipment. At night we work on identifying targets, determining coordinates," the Defense Ministry quoted a reconnaissance scout who goes by the call sign "Pumba" as saying.