Moscow, July 13 (UNI) Russia’s South, North, and West battle groups eliminated close to 1,500 Ukrainian fighters in the Kharkov Region (also known as Kharkiv) and the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday.

"In the South battlegroup's area of responsibility, the enemy lost up to 680 servicemen, 15 vehicles, and a transporter erector launcher of the Strela-10 missile system over the past 24 hours," the ministry said in a daily situation report.