MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Ukraine lost up to 350 troops in the Avdeyevka area in the past day, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"In the Avdeyevka area, units of Battlegroup Center carried out active operations, moving to more advantageous positions and hitting the troops and equipment of the 59th Motorized Infantry Brigade, the 23rd and 53rd mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian Armed forces near Netailovo, Umanskoye, Ocheretino and Toretsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic. <...> The Ukrainian armed forces lost up to 350 troops, two armored combat vehicles and five motor vehicles," the statement reads.

Russian forces also repelled 12 counterattacks by the 25th Air Assault Brigade, the Third Assault Brigade, the 24th and 75th mechanized brigades of the Ukrainian armed forces near Novgorodskoye, Semyonovka, Orlovka, Tonenkoye and Berdychi in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Russian air defenses destroy 171 drones, down 29 rockets

Russian air defenses downed 29 HIMARS and Vampire rockets and destroyed 171 Ukrainian drones in the past day.

"Air defenses destroyed 171 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles and downed 29 rockets for the US-made HIMARS launchers and the Czech-made Vampire launchers in the past day," the statement reads.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, a total of 577 planes, 270 helicopters, 16,736 unmanned aerial vehicles, 489 missile systems, 15,576 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,254 multiple rocket launchers, 8,497 field artillery systems and mortars, as well as 20,101 special military motor vehicles, have been wiped out since the start of Moscow’s special military operation.