"Units of the Southern Group of Forces liberated the settlement of Zakotnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic, the Russian Defence Ministry reported on Friday. Footage published by the Russian Defence Ministry shows a serviceman unfurling the Russian tricolour flag. The date and location of the footage cannot be independently verified. "During the ongoing offensive actions of the Southern Group of Forces, the 7th Separate Guards Motorised Rifle Chistyakov Brigade liberated Zakotnoye in the Donetsk People's Republic," the ministry said in a statement. The Russian Defence Ministry's press service noted the co-ordinated actions of the military, artillery fire support, and the effective work of unmanned systems, which "made it possible to block all attempts by the enemy to hold" the territory. According to the ministry, Ukraine lost more than "1,140 troops, two tanks, and 42 armoured fighting vehicles" in engagements with the Southern Group of Forces. "105 motor vehicles, 22 artillery guns, eight electronic warfare and counter-fire stations, and 18 ammunition, fuel, and materiel depots were neutralised," the ministry added. Meanwhile, Friday's report by the AFU's General Staff stated that "defence forces repelled five enemy attacks in the areas of Seversk, Platonovka and towards Zakotnoye". Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February 2022 after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements, and urging Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and give assurances that it would never join NATO. Kiev denounced the Russian action as an invasion. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky imposed martial law throughout the country, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and the US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow. The date of the footage published by the Russian Defence Ministry cannot be independently verified."