MOSCOW, Feb. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russian forces have taken control of two settlements in the past day, namely Pokrovka in the Sumy region and Minkovka in the Donetsk region as part of ongoing military operations, the Russian Defense Ministry said Monday.
During the past day, Russian forces carried out strikes on 152 areas, including energy and transport infrastructure facilities used by Ukrainian forces, sites for storing and launching long-range drones, as well as temporary deployment points of Ukrainian armed formations and foreign mercenaries, the ministry said.
Russian air defense systems also shot down eight rockets launched by U.S.-made HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems and 345 fixed-wing drones, it said. ■
