"Three US-made M-777 artillery systems were destroyed at firing positions near the settlements of Dobrovoye in the Kharkov region and Pleshcheyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," he said, TASS reported.
He added that Two Ukrainian reconnaissance groups have been neutralized by Russian forces in the Lugansk People’s Republic in the past day. "In the Krasny Liman direction, Russian artillery and flamethrower systems hit two Ukrainian tactical groups near the settlement of Terny in the Donetsk People’s Republic. Apart from that, Russian forces neutralized two Ukrainian reconnaissance groups acting in the direction of the settlement of Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People’s Republic."
According to Konashenkov, Russian troops destroyed the Ukrainian manpower and military hardware. "The enemy lost up 60 troops, who were either killed or wounded, four armored combat vehicles and three pickup trucks in this direction," he added.
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has stated that air defense systems downed a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle over Russia's Engels Air Base on Monday.
The MoD said that “on December 26, at about 1:35 Moscow time, the air defenses of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Ukrainian UAV as it was approaching the Engels military airfield in the Saratov region at low altitude.”
According to the MoD, three Russian servicemen, who were at the airfield, had been fatally injured as a result of falling wreckage from the Ukrainian drone.
The aviation equipment was not damaged in the incident, the MoD added.
MNA/PR