The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said that the Russian military attacked the point of temporary deployment of foreign mercenaries, as a result of which up to 250 militants were destroyed.

“High-precision air-launched missiles in the village of Konstantinovka of the Donetsk People’s Republic hit a temporary deployment point for mercenaries of the so-called Ukrainian Foreign Legion.

Up to 250 foreign fighters, seven armored vehicles, as well as 12 special vehicles were destroyed, ”said Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov on July 18 during a briefing.

During another strike, carried out with long-range precision weapons, up to 60 nationalists, two multiple rocket launchers and four artillery pieces were destroyed.

“In the area of ​​the Udachnoye railway station of the Donetsk People’s Republic, more than ten Ukrainian installations of Grad multiple rocket launchers, as well as eight units of armored vehicles, were destroyed by a strike at the place of unloading echelons with military equipment,” Konashenkov also said.

  • Defense Ministry Spokesperson Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov

Along with this, two Mi-8 helicopters were destroyed on the territory of the DPR as a result of a rocket artillery strike on the field airfield of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and two more vehicles were significantly damaged.

During the counter-battery fight, Russian troops hit two batteries of Uragan multiple launch rocket systems, three platoons of Grad MLRS, 14 artillery platoons of Giacint-B howitzers and D-30 guns.

Aviation, rocket troops and artillery hit 14 command posts in a day, including the 28th mechanized brigade in the Nikolaev region, the 60th infantry brigade in the Novoaleksandrivka region of the Zaporozhye region and the 15th battalion of the 58th motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the DPR, as well as manpower and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 286 districts.

In addition, a Buk-M1 self-propelled launcher near Kramatorsk, three depots with rocket and artillery weapons, and a fuel depot were destroyed.

During the day, air defense systems shot down six Ukrainian drones and intercepted six shells of the Uragan multiple launch rocket system.

In total, since the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine, Russian troops have destroyed 257 aircraft, 142 helicopters, 1,564 drones, 356 anti-aircraft missile systems, 4,099 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 759 MLRS combat vehicles, 3,157 field artillery pieces and mortars, as well as 4,392 units of special military vehicles.

The situation around Avdiivka

The official representative of the People's Militia of the DPR, Eduard Basurin, said that the forces of the republic took the settlement of Avdiivka into a semicircle.

“We completely blocked the road connecting Avdiivka and Konstantinovka in two districts, Avdiivka is now covered by a semicircle,” Basurin said on Channel One.

He added that a bridgehead is currently being prepared to begin the complete liberation of the territory of the DPR from Ukrainian armed formations.

FSB has identified a resident of the LPR recruited by the SBU

The press service of the Federal Security Service for the Rostov region announced the identification of a native of the Luhansk region, who had links with the special services of Ukraine.

“A citizen of Ukraine has been identified who arrived on the territory of the Russian Federation in order to fulfill the task of the 5th Directorate of the Counterintelligence Department of the Security Service of Ukraine to collect and transfer information about the movement of Russian military equipment through the territory of the Rostov region,” Interfax quoted the agency’s press service as saying.

According to the FSB, the detained man took part in the armed conflict in the Donbass in 2017-2018 as part of the LNR forces, after which in 2018 he was recruited by employees of the 5th Directorate of the Counterintelligence Department of the SBU.

According to the FSB, the man was used to obtain information of a socio-political and military nature on the territory of the LPR and DPR, but he did not manage to complete the task.

As a result, the competent authorities decided to issue an official warning to a citizen of Ukraine about the inadmissibility of actions that create conditions for the commission of a crime under Art.

276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Espionage”).