MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/. The Russian military during a special operation took control of the city of Izyum in Ukraine’s Kharkov region, Chief Spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Major General Igor Konashenkov announced on Wednesday.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation continue to carry out the tasks of a special military operation. By the morning of March 24, units of the Russian army have completely taken control of the city of Izyum in the Kharkov region," he said.

He added that Russia’s high-precision weapons have destroyed 13 missile launchers and a temporary base of a nationalist battalion in the city of Lisichansk.

According to Konashenkov, Russia’s Armed Forces carried out attacks involving long-range high-precision weapons on the evening of March 23 and in the early hours of March 24. "The attacks destroyed 13 missile launchers, including nine S-300 systems and four Buk-M1 systems in the Danilovka settlement south of Kiev, a formation headquarters and a missile and artillery weapons depot in the Bakhmut settlement in the Donetsk region and a temporary base of a nationalist battalion in the city of Lisichansk," he specified.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 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.