MOSCOW, March 31. /TASS/. Over the past day, Russia’s Battlegroup West shot down 17 fixed-wing Ukrainian drones and destroyed 23 drone control centers, the spokesman for the battlegroup, Ivan Bigma, told reporters.

"Air defense crews destroyed 17 fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles <...>. In addition, Nota and Zakhist-AF electronic warfare systems, 23 UAV control centers, an Israeli-made RADA radar station, three satellite communication terminals, and a field ammo depot belonging to the enemy were wiped out," he specified.

According to Bigma, the battlegroup hit two mechanized, one assault and one territorial defense brigades in the Kharkov Region, the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), and in the Serebryanka forestry. Over the past 24 hours, Ukraine lost roughly 240 troops, two US-made M113 APCs, a UK-made Dingo reconnaissance vehicle, and six pickup trucks, he continued. In counterbattery combat, the battlegroup’s artillery units destroyed four field guns, a Verba multiple rocket launcher, and 10 Ukrainian mortar crews, he added.