Map of the special operation in Ukraine on April 20

A special military operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass has been conducted by Russia since February 24, 2022. You can track the progress of the joint forces of Russia, the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), as well as view the map of military operations on April 20 in the Izvestia material.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, since the announcement of the Easter truce at 18:00 Moscow time on April 19, Russian military personnel have strictly observed it. At the same time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) tried to attack the positions of the Russian Federation in the areas of the settlements of Sukhaya Balka and Bogatyr in the DPR, these attacks were repelled. Moreover, during the night, the enemy attacked 48 drones, one of which was aimed at Crimea. The Ukrainian army fired 444 times at Russian positions with guns and mortars, and hit them 900 times with quadcopter-type drones. Of this number, 12 attacks, 33 drone strikes and seven ammunition drops occurred in the border areas of the Bryansk, Kursk and Belgorod regions. Civilians were killed and injured, and civilian infrastructure was damaged.

Before the truce, the Zapad military groups liberated the village of Novomikhailovka in the DPR. In the area of operation of Zapad, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost up to 245 military personnel, three ammunition depots, three field artillery guns, a tank, two Kozak armored fighting vehicles, an armored personnel carrier, five vehicles and a Grad multiple rocket launcher combat vehicle before 18:00 Moscow time on April 19.

The Russian air defense forces destroyed 88 enemy unmanned aerial vehicles, three JDAM guided aerial bombs and an American-made HIMARS multiple rocket launcher.

Dangerous communication: how fiber-optic lines are laid in a special operation zone

The management of troops and the performance of combat missions depend on the reliability of communication systems.

In total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 661 aircraft, 283 helicopters, 52,831 unmanned aerial vehicles, 604 anti-aircraft missile systems, 22,967 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 1,544 multiple rocket launchers, 23,913 field artillery guns and mortars, and 34,387 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed.

Watch more relevant videos and details about the situation in Donbass on the Izvestia TV channel.