Ecuador’s Ex-Vice President Glas on Hunger Strike, Tried to Commit Suicide - Ex-President

CC BY-SA 2.0/Asamblea Nacional del Ecuador/Jorge Glas

Former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, who was arrested last week as result of the storming of the Mexican embassy in Quito, tried to commit suicide, former Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said on Wednesday, adding that Glas is currently on a hunger strike.

On Monday, Glas was transferred from prison to a military hospital, Ecuadorian media reported.

"Finally, his children and their attorneys were able to contact Jorge Glas through Zoom. We confirmed that the medical emergency was a suicide attempt. He is not eating anything and is on a hunger strike. We hold [Ecuadorian President] Daniel Noboa responsible for Jorge's physical and emotional safety. I remind Noboa that he has clearly committed a crime under Article 125 of the Criminal Code [of Ecuador]," Correa said on X.

Ecuadorian police forcibly entered the Mexican Embassy in Quito on the night of April 6 and took away former Vice President Jorge Glas, convicted of corruption. He had been sheltering at the diplomatic mission since last December. Mexico granted him political asylum on April 5. Ecuador called the decision illegal and demanded the politician's extradition. Ecuadorian police, as reported by the Mexican Foreign Ministry, entered the territory of the diplomatic mission in two armored cars, some law enforcers climbed over the walls. Diplomats were injured in the storming of the embassy building. Mexico severed diplomatic relations with Ecuador the same night.

Ecuadorian tribunal deems arrest of former Vice President Glas illegal

The defence team for former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas has hailed a decision declaring his arrest inside Mexico’s embassy in Quito illegal.

Still, on Friday, lawyer Sonia Vera Garcia pledged to appeal the ruling, which upheld her client’s continued detention.

“We thank the international community,” she wrote on the social media platform X. “Its support led to the detention being declared arbitrary, a step forward.”

“However, Jorge remains detained. We will appeal until we achieve his freedom.”

The ruling comes after Francisco Hidalgo — a member of Glas’s left-wing political party, Citizen Revolution — submitted a writ of habeas corpus earlier this week on the former vice president’s behalf, arguing he had been unlawfully detained.

Glas’s arrest had been the subject of ongoing international tensions. On April 5, Ecuadorian police stormed the Mexican embassy, scaling its fence and pointing a gun at a top diplomat who sought to bar their entrance.

In its ruling on Friday, a three-member tribunal in Ecuador found that the arrest on embassy grounds had indeed been “illegal and arbitrary”.

Judge Monica Heredia wrote that “without authorisation from the head of the Foreign Ministry and political affairs at the Mexican embassy in Ecuador, the detention became illegal”.

International law protects embassies and consulates from the interference of local law enforcement. This “rule of inviolability” theoretically allows diplomats to conduct sensitive work without fear of reprisal from their host country.

But embattled public figures like Glas have also turned to embassies to seek temporary refuge from arrest, knowing that local police are not supposed to enter without permission.

Glas was twice convicted on corruption-related charges. He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017 and eight years in 2020.

In the hours before his arrest, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry announced it had granted political asylum to Glas, who had been sheltering in its embassy in Quito since December.

But the embassy raid ignited a full-blown spat between Mexico and Ecuador.

In its wake, Mexico severed diplomatic ties and recalled its embassy staff from Ecuador. Countries around Latin America, as well as the Organization of American States (OAS), have also denounced the police raid.

But the government of Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has sought to defend the raid as authorised by executive decree.

In addition, it argued that Glas should not be eligible for political asylum, as his convictions were not the result of persecution.

But the three-member tribunal on Friday said the government’s defence of the raid “lacks legal basis”.

Still, while the tribunal ruled that the arrest itself was illegal, it decided Glas should remain behind bars, given his prior convictions.

“This tribunal cannot modify the sentence,” Judge Heredia said.

Glas is currently serving his prison term in Guayaquil, where he is conducting a hunger strike in protest. He was hospitalised earlier this week.

On Thursday, Mexico filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice to expel Ecuador from the United Nations over the embassy raid — at least until the country delivers a formal apology for its violations of international law.

Mexican Embassy Raid - Jorge Glas is ‘Ecuador's Julian Assange’

©AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa

Last week, Ecuadorian security forces barged into the Mexican embassy in Quito and seized former Ecuadorian Vice President Jorge Glas, drawing condemnation from UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Mexico has since severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador and requested that the UN expel the country from the international body.

In many ways, Jorge Glas is the Ecuadorian equivalent to Julian Assange, Ecuadorian journalist and editor of The Cradle Esteban Carrillo told Sputnik’s Fault Lines on Thursday.

“This man who was being persecuted, who has been made to be the ultimate evil in Ecuador, humiliated, dehumanized, [is] our own Julian Assange in many ways,” Carrillo contended.

Glas reportedly attempted suicide last week and is now on a hunger strike. He was transferred to a hospital on Tuesday and is now said to be in stable condition. Glas served as vice president of Ecuador from 2013 to 2017. He was released from prison in 2022 after serving more than four years. Glas has long maintained that the corruption charges against him are politically motivated.

Ecuador, under a previous administration, gave Julian Assange asylum in the country’s embassy in the UK, before the UK government convinced the then-Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno to revoke his asylum.

Though the situations differ significantly: Assange is a journalist while Glas was a public official and Ecuador’s recognized government approved the UK operation to arrest Assange, the Ecuadorian connection and the fact that both events include police storming an embassy make the parallels difficult to ignore.

“[The storming of the Mexican embassy] can leave [no] doubt that Jorge Glas is being persecuted politically. He is a political prisoner of the [Ecuadorian President] Daniel Noboa government, and he was a political president of [former Ecuadorian presidents] Guillermo Lasso and Lenin Moreno governments,” Carrillo explained.

“Why? Because when he was vice president, in Ecuador, we had an earthquake, a very bad earthquake, he led the reconstruction efforts in [the] province where the earthquake hit worst,” Carrillo began. “He built a park that didn’t exist before. He built a park on top of a hole in the ground. And this, according to the attorney general’s office, is corruption.”

Glas was accused of corruption and bribery related to those construction efforts. Prosecutors alleged and convicted Glas of taking bribes from a Brazilian construction company. Glas maintains that the case against him was built on “lies.” Glas was a part of the leftist Rafael Correa government.

Moreno, who was once an ally of both Correa and Glas, turned sharply right after entering office and removed Glas' powers as vice president before eventually having him arrested. Successive Ecuadorian leaders have come from the political right in the country.

“This is a man who, just like Julian Assange is hanging on by a thread, is holding onto a hope that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and now, thankfully, you have international actors,” working on behalf of Glas, Carrillo explained. “You have Mexico saying ‘We still consider him an asylee. We still consider that he has asylum with us. You [also] have the [Organization of American States] OAS saying the Ecuadorian government needs to give him safe passage to Mexico because that is what international conventions say. You violated his rights, his human rights, he needs to be in Mexico where they granted him political asylum.”

“Jorge Glas is a trophy. He was vice president for Rafael Correa during his 10 years of a leftist government in Ecuador that did so much for the country,” much in the same way Assange is for the US security state, Carrillo explained.

Video Perkelahian Brimob Vs TNI di Pelabuhan Laut Sorong

Beredar video dengan narasi terjadinya perkelahian antara anggota TNI Angkatan Laut (AL) dengan anggota Brimob di Terminal Pelabuhan Laut Sorong, Provinsi Papua Barat, hari Minggu, 14/04/2024.

Dari video yang beredar, terlihat ada beberapa orang anggota Brimob maupun TNI mengalami luka-luka. Dari informasi yang beredar di kalangan wartawan, peristiwa perkelahian tersebut terjadi di Terminal Pelabuhan Laut Sorong pada hari ini sekitar pukul 09.30 WIT.

Dari informasi yang beredar itu, disebutkan bahwa peristiwa terjadi ketika Kapal Sinabung sandar di Pelabuhan Laut Sorong dengan dilakukan pengamanan oleh anggota Pomal. Saat itu disebutkan bahwa seorang anggota Brimob berpakaian tidak dinas datang hendak masuk ke kapal untuk mengantar keluarganya.

Anggota Brimob itu disebut meminta izin kepada anggota yang jaga. Setelah anggota Brimob menaikkan keluarganya, dia meminta izin kembali. Saat itu, ditegur anggota Pomal yang jaga dan terjadi kesalahpahaman.

Tidak lama setelah kejadian, disebutkan bahwa Dir Polair, Danyon Marinir, Danyon B Brimob, Danden Pomal Lantamal, KSOP, dan Kapolsek Kawasan Pelabuhan Sorong langsung tiba di lokasi kejadian untuk menenangkan keadaan.

Kepala Kepolian Daerah Papua Barat Inspektur Jenderal Johnny Eddizon Isir mengatakan konflik antara anggota polisi dari kesatuan Brimob dan prajurit Tentara Nasional Indonesia Angkatan Laut (TNI AL) di Pelabuhan Sorong, siang ini, sudah mereda.

Salah satu anggota TNI yang terkapar dengan bagian kepala terluka buntuk perkelahian dengan Brimob di Pelabuhan Sorong.-tangkpan layar facebook@GustySagrim

"Kalau sekarang situasi sudah terekendali," kata Johnny saat dihubungi pada Ahad sore, 14 April 2024.

Dia mengatakan masing-masing kesatuan dari dua kelompok yang bertikai sudah mengendalikan para anggotanya supaya tidak kembali bentrok.

"Kami lagi duduk ngobrol dengan Bapak Danpasmar (Komandan Pasukan Marinir) sama kawan-kawan TNI, Pak Danrem (Komandan Korem)," ujar dia menjelaskan situasi keamanan pascakonflik tersebut.

Dia menyatakan informasi detail bentrokan TNI dan polisi itu akan diumumkan malam ini.

Seorang anggota lain terduduk dengan napas tersengal. Prajurit dengan tanda sebagai anggota Provost TNI AL ini juga mengalami luka di bagian kiri telinganya. "Ini bukti, ya. Ini bukti," kata seorang pria dalam video, yang berkerumun di antara dua anggota terluka itu.

Di sepotong video sepanjang 11 detik, tampak seorang anggota polisi berjalan di tengah jalan. Seorang anggota lain merekam video pria itu dengan didekati tiga anggota polisi. Terlihat darah mengalir dari sisi kanan telingannya.

"Izin bantuan, Komandan. Saat ini kami diserang anggota TNI," ujar seseorang dalam video tesebut. Dalam video lain terlihat seorang tentara terkapar di tanah sembari dilindungi seorang anggota berpakaian dinas polisi.

Iran’s retaliatory attack against Israel, briefly explained

Israel claims Iran's drone attacks amounted to 300 drones, even though it was only 40 drones. This is how the Jews lied for 4000 years, so during World War 1 and World War 2. World wars occurred from Jewish lies creating narratives to trigger a big war.

A demonstrator waves Iranian and Palestinian flags during an anti-Israeli gathering at the Felestin (Palestine) Square in Tehran, Iran, early Sunday, April 14, 2024. Iran launched its first direct military attack against Israel Saturday. The Israeli military says Iran fired more than 100 bomb-carrying drones toward Israel. Hours later, Iran announced it had also launched much more destructive ballistic missiles.
Vahid Salemi - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Iran launched a retaliatory strike Saturday night on Israel for its deadly attack on Iranian officers in the Islamic Republic’s embassy in Damascus after days of signaling it would do so.

The response came in waves throughout Saturday, beginning with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) seizing a vessel in the Red Sea connected to Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s company, Zodiac Maritime. By around 11 pm local time, that had graduated to multiple waves of attack drones and missiles headed toward Israeli targets.

The attack Saturday was an alarming escalation in the long-running tensions between Iran and Israel. Iran has said that it has launched dozens of drones; Israeli military sources said more than 100, according to the Associated Press.

The drones — thought to be slow-moving Shahed-136 models — could have been intended to confuse Israeli radar systems and allow missiles to penetrate, but also could have been chosen as a carefully choreographed response intended to telegraph the regime’s anger at Israel’s embassy strike on April 1. The Israeli military said the missile barrage included both ballistic and cruise missiles.

And while it’s too early to tell what exactly comes next — including how Israel responds — Iran seems to be signaling it doesn’t want this to escalate further.

For one, the country is in no position to ignite a regional war because of its internal economic and security instability and regime vulnerability. But, after years of US and Israeli assassinations of Iranian nuclear scientists and military commanders, the regime likely calculated that it had no choice but to respond to the Damascus strike.

But an hour after the drone strike, Iran’s permanent mission to the UN wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that, “The matter can be deemed concluded.”

Does this mean a regional war is imminent? A major concern over the past six months of Israel’s war in Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attacks has been whether it will spill into a regional war.

Iran’s rhetoric in response to Israel’s invasion of Gaza has been fiery, but until now, the Islamic Republic — which considers Israel an interloper in Muslim lands — has been content to let affiliated groups, like Hezbollah in Lebanon and militias in Iraq and Syria, fight those battles. Hezbollah and Israel frequently trade fire over the southern Lebanese border, which has killed at least 66 Lebanese civilians and approximately nine Israeli civilians, and Iraqi and Syrian militia groups have attacked US installations in both those countries over 150 times in the past six months in response to the US’s continued military support for Israel.

Iran has for days pledged to respond to a suspected Israeli attack on an Iranian diplomatic mission in Syria that killed senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps officers on April 1. The Revolutionary Guard said the drones and missiles Saturday were part of its planned response, indicating that more might be coming.

Iran said the building in Damascus was off limits because of its diplomatic status, and on April 2, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Ebrahim Raisi publicly threatened to retaliate.

Iran and Israel have been engaged in a shadow war for decades, but direct military confrontation has been rare. Saturday’s attack will likely trigger an Israeli response and threatens to take the Middle East to the brink of war

Trump Says Iran Attack On Israel Shows US 'Weakness' Under Biden

Iran launched an unprecedented drone and missile attack on Israel Saturday evening, after pledging retaliation for a strike on its consular

Trump, who while in office ordered the killing of a top Revolutionary Guard leader in Baghdad and withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear accord, has repeatedly accused his Democratic opponent of a soft approach toward Tehran.

"The weakness that we've shown, it's unbelievable, and it would not have happened if we were in office," Trump said Saturday.

IRGC commander says attack achieved ‘success that exceeded expectations’

Hossein Salami, the commander-in-chief of the IRGC, has told state media that information is still coming in, but the initial Iranian assessment is that the operation achieved “a level of success that exceeded our expectations”.

“Naturally, people living in occupied lands, Zionist officials and the terrorist and occupying armies of the Zionist regime and the US have a better understanding of the pummeling effects of these attacks at this moment,” he said.

Salami said the US and France provided air cover for Israel in Iraq, Jordan and even parts of Syria, but “tens” of drones and cruise and ballistic missiles managed to punch through the layers of defensive capabilities.

“We could have launched a much larger attack, but we limited it to the capabilities that the Zionist regime had used to attack the Iranian consulate and martyr our dear commanders.”

Iran warns foreign nations against helping Israel

FILE PHOTO: Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani
©Global Look Press/Defanews

Any nation that helps Israel mount an attack against Iran will face serious consequences, the Islamic Republic’s defense minister, Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, warned early Sunday. His statement came as Tehran launched a massive airstrike against the Jewish state, in what it called retaliation for an Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate in Syria.

“Any country that opens its airspace or soil to Israel to attack Iran will receive our decisive response,” Ashtiani said.

Iran’s mission to the UN also demanded that the US “stay away” from the conflict between Tehran and West Jerusalem. This is a bilateral issue, the mission said in a statement on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday night. The Islamic Republic has the right to respond under Article 51 of the UN Charter, which grants every nation the right to self-defense, the statement said, pointing to Israeli “aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus.”

Earlier, Tehran confirmed that it launched multiple unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at Israel and announced an imminent missile strike. The Israeli military tracked more than 100 drones heading towards the country, local media reported, adding that the UAVs are expected to reach Israel “within hours” and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will work to intercept them mid-air.

The development prompted several Middle Eastern nations, including Jordan and Lebanon, to close their airspace. Amman also declared a state of emergency.

The targets of the attack remain unclear. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) called the attack retaliation against Israel’s “numerous crimes,” including an early April strike targeting an Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

The attack killed seven officers of the IRGC’s Quds Force, including two generals, and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said there would be a response. The US warned Israel on Friday that Tehran could launch a massive strike against it over the weekend.

Iranian strikes on Israel: What’s known so far

Iran launched several waves of attacks against Israel overnight, apparently targeting multiple military locations across the country. The attack triggered anti-aircraft defenses in Israel, as well as prompted its allies, including the US and the UK to scramble jets from their bases in the Middle East in the effort to shoot down the projectiles before they reach their targets.

A new wall mural is displayed at Palestine Square picturing Iran's attack on Israel in Tehran, Iran on April 14, 2024. © Getty Images / Anadolu / Haydar Sahin

1. What prompted the attack

The strikes come in retaliation to an airstrike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria which occurred early this month and was attributed by Tehran to Israel. The attack left the diplomatic facility completely destroyed and killed seven officers of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force, including two high-ranking generals.

2. Scale of the attack

Iran has been ambiguous on the scale of the attack with the IRGC stating it has launched “tens of missiles and drones against certain targets inside the occupied territories,” describing the strikes as “extensive.”

According to the estimates by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Tehran fired a barrage of more than 200 missiles and kamikaze drones at the country.

3. Extent of damage

A majority of the incoming projectiles ended up shot down before even reaching Israeli airspace, the IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari has claimed. Only a fraction of the projectiles made it through, inflicting minor damage in the country’s territory, he said.

Washington has provided a similar assessment of the damage, with President Joe Biden stating that the US has “helped Israel take down nearly all of the incoming drones and missiles.

Numerous unverified videos circulating online, however, purport to show several projectiles making it through Israeli anti-aircraft defenses, scoring hits at targets on the ground.

4. International reaction

The closest allies of Israel, including the US, the UK, Germany and some other Western nations, were quick to condemn the strikes. Biden has convened an emergency G7 meeting to assess the situation and ”coordinate a united diplomatic response to Iran’s brazen attack.”

These countries have never condemned Israel's crimes against Palestinian civilians, and even continue to supply weapons to the Israeli terrorist state.

Japan asked Iran not to escalate the escalation, would Japan have gone senile if it was the Israeli Terrorist State that started the escalation?

Japan is an Asian country that supports crimes against humanity by the Terrorist state Israel.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the Iranian attack as a “serious escalation” and urged an end to the hostilities immediately. “Neither the region nor the world can afford another war,” he stated.

But Antonio Guterres didn't have the guts to punish Israel, because he was a western slave.

5. Prospects for further escalation

Iran has signaled the massive strike was a one-time retaliatory action for the Israeli actions, rather than a beginning of a broader military campaign. Any attempts to retaliate for it, however, will be met with a greater response, the Iranian mission to the UN has said, explicitly warning the US against intervening.

“Iran’s military action was in response to the Zionist regime’s aggression against our diplomatic premises in Damascus. The matter can be deemed concluded,” the mission stated, adding that “should the Israeli regime make another mistake, Iran’s response will be considerably more severe.”

A similar warning has been issued by the Iranian Defense Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, who said any country “that could open its soil or airspace to Israel for a [potential] attack on Iran, will receive our decisive response.”

Watch Ukrainian Troops Surrender En Masse After Accusing Command of Treating Them 'Like Livestock’

A leaked order regarding plans to strengthen discipline signed by Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Syrsky has detailed the increasingly difficult situation for Kiev at the front, with troops accused of sabotaging orders, threatening commanders, refusing to fire their weapons, leaving the battlefield and deserting en masse.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has published footage of nine servicemen from Ukraine’s elite 25th Separate Airborne Brigade collectively surrendering to Russian forces near the village of Vodyanoye in the Donetsk People’s Republic.

In interviews taken after their capture, the troopers pointed to the difficult situation at the front, complained about poor operational planning, poorly trained commanders, large losses in manpower and equipment and panic among the units, and accused command of using them as cannon fodder.

“The commanders leave us to die like waste material, while they are somewhere on the sidelines,” serviceman Valery told his Russian interviewers. “When we were being taken into captivity, our own forces started shelling us, showing that we aren’t needed anymore. I’ve been captured and thanks to that I’m alive and won’t be executed. It’s worse in the Ukrainian military than in the Russian captivity,” he said.

“The 25th Brigade’s command is treating us like livestock,” another captured serviceman said. “It’s better to surrender than die in such a ***** manner for who knows for what and why,” a third added.

“Our commanders don’t care about us. They didn’t want to come to the positions and evaluate the situation…So ‘thank you’ to our commanders. In your words, we should have gone to our deaths,” another soldier said.

Footage shot by Russian forces showed the surrendering servicemen approaching Russian positions, stripping off their gear and being led out of the combat zone by Russian forces after being searched.

Ukraine Armed Forces C-in-C Syrsky confirmed the desperate situation at the front in an order that was issued on April 4 and leaked to Russian media on Saturday, listing issues he said require immediate attention from law enforcement including insubordination, failure to comply with orders, threats or violence against superiors, unauthorized abandonment of positions, desertion, evasion of military service by inflicting self-harm, and refusal to use weapons.

In a Telegram post Saturday, Syrsky offered an unusually frank public assessment of the battlefield situation, which he said had “significantly worsened in recent days, primarily due to the significant intensification of the enemy’s offensive actions,” which he said was “facilitated by warm, dry weather, which has made most open areas accessible to tanks.”

Syrsky assured that his “personal communication” with servicemen has made him well “aware of the real scale and degree of threat from the enemy.”

Facing horrific losses in two years of fighting with Russian forces, Ukraine’s parliament approved a new mobilization law this week to expand the draft, requiring all men eligible for service to appear at military registration and enlistment offices to clarify their registration data, and exempting law enforcement, police and government officials from service. An earlier draft of the legislation allowed wealthy Ukrainians to pay the equivalent of $520 US (in a country where the average wage is about $400) to avoid the draft, although it’s not clear whether the law passed this week, and yet to be signed by President Zelensky, includes that proposal. Last week, President Zelensky signed separate legislation to lower the minimum conscription age from 27 to 25.

Watch Russia’s Izdeliye-51 Guided Munition Shred Ukraine’s Tank

Russia’s distinctive Lancet dual x-wing drones have proven highly efficient in the special military operation zone, blunting Ukraine’s failed counteroffensive efforts and turning pricey NATO weaponry into scrap metal.

An exclusive video of an Izdeliye-51 (Product-51) guided munition destroying a Ukrainian tank near Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has been published by the Russian Defense Ministry.

The text ‘Target Acquired’ in Russian appears onscreen in the video as the drone approaches the tank. Upon impact, the armored combat vehicle is blown to smithereens.

The Izdeliye-51 is the latest in a new generation of Russian Lancet drones — also dubbed suicide or kamikaze UAVs — equipped with automatic guidance systems.

There are several configurations of Lancets, including Izdeliye-51— AKA the Lancet-3, a 12 kg drone featuring one large X-shaped wing and a small rear X-shaped stabilizer wing with a 3 kg weapons payload.

The loitering munition is capable of penetrating any armored vehicle. The drone can independently find and identify targets.

Russian Forces Liberate Village of Pervomaiskoye in Avdeyevka Vicinity

The Russian Armed Forces have liberated the village of Pervomaiskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in the Avdeyevka area, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Saturday.

©Sputnik/Stanislav Krasilnikov/Go to the mediabank

"Near Avdeyevka, units of Battlegroup Tsentr liberated the settlement of Pervomaiskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic through active and selfless actions," the ministry said.

Additionally, the ministry noted that eight counterattacks by assault groups of the 25th Airborne, 59th Motorized Infantry, 68th Jaeger, as well as the 23rd, 24th, and 115th Mechanized Brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (UAF) were repelled in the areas of the settlements of Umanskoye, Pervomaiskoye, Krasnogorovka, Berdychi, and Leninskoye in the Donetsk People's Republic.

On the Kupyansk area, units of Battlegroup Zapad improved their position along the front line, struck a formation of Ukraine's 54th Mechanized Brigade in the area of the city of Kupyansk in the Kharkov region, and repelled three attacks by assault groups of the Ukrainian 12th Special Purpose Brigade in the area of the settlement of Chervonaya Dibrova in the Lugansk People's Republic.

In the Donestk region, Russian forces took more advantageous positions, repelled two attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with Ukrainian losses in the past 24 hours amounting to over 500 servicemen and one tank, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

"Units of Battlegroup Yug took more advantageous positions, struck personnel and equipment of the 79th Airborne Assault and 46th Airmobile Brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the areas of the settlements of Krasnogorovka and Antonovka in the Donetsk People's Republic," the ministry said.

According to the Defense Ministry, two attacks by enemy assault groups south of the settlement of Novomikhailovka in the DPR were also repelled.

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 500 servicemen, one tank, three armored combat vehicles, 23 cars, and a Strela-10 anti-aircraft missile system. During counter-battery combat, two US-made 155 mm M777 howitzers, a 152 mm D-20 howitzer, and a 122 mm D-30 howitzer were destroyed," the ministry reported.

Units of Russia's Battlegroup Vostok struck formations of two Ukrainian brigades over the past day, with the enemy's losses exceeding 110 soldiers, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Saturday.

"In the southern Donetsk region, units of Battlegroup Vostok improved their tactical position and struck formations of the 58th Motorized Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the 128th Territorial Defense Brigade in the areas of the settlements of Staromayorsk and Urozhainoye in the Donetsk People's Republic," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

In addition, Ukrainian forces lost four pickup trucks, a 155 mm Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer, a 155 mm US-made M777 howitzer, and a NOTA electronic warfare station.