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Nationalists kill four Ukrainian army officers - Russian Defense Ministry

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 said in an early morning televised address he had launched a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics

MOSCOW, February 27. /TASS/. Ukrainian nationalists have killed four Ukrainian army officers in an attempt to make retreating soldiers in the Lugansk Region, fight on, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday.

"In Severodonetsk, the Lugansk Region, nationalists acting as blocking detachments, have been using threats to kill regular army commanders in their attempts to stop retreating units and make them continue resistance. The nationalists are known to have killed four army officers," Konashenkov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 said in an early morning televised address he had launched a special military operation in Ukraine in response to a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans for an occupation of Ukrainian territories. The sole purpose is the country’s demilitarization and denazification. The Russian Defense Ministry has said that its forces are not attacking cities, its main targets being military infrastructures. The civilian population is not at risk, the Defense Ministry said.

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