MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. The armed forces of Russia have successfully fulfilled Thursday’s tasks of the special operation in Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov has told reporters.

"All tasks for today, set before the Russian troops, have been successfully fulfilled," he said late on Thursday.

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.

When clarifying the developments unfolding, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. There are no threats whatsoever to the civilian population.