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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said a total of 137 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 316 injured in fighting with Russian forces in the past 24 hours, TASS reported.

"Regretfully, according to preliminary estimates we lost 137 our heroes today, including 10 officers. 316 were injured," the president said in a video address to Ukrainians, posted in his Telegram channel.

Zelensky also confirmed that Kiev had lost control over the Snake Island in the Black Sea. In his words, all Ukrainian servicemen deployed on the island have perished.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on Thursday morning that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.