MOSCOW, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Russian forces have seized control of 12 settlements since the start of February despite severe winter conditions, Valery Gerasimov, chief of the general staff of the Russian Armed Forces, said on Sunday.
Among the localities captured were Popovka and Sidorovka in the Sumy region, as well as Chuhunivka in the Kharkov region, Gerasimov said.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the country's air defense systems have shot down 222 Ukrainian drones over the past 24 hours.
Since the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis, Russian forces have destroyed 670 Ukrainian aircraft, 283 helicopters, 650 surface-to-air missile systems and more than 114,000 drones, the ministry added. ■
