MOSCOW, April 4. /TASS/. The strategic aviation of Russia’s Aerospace Forces has struck 14 Ukrainian military targets overnight, including two command centers and two Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told journalists on Monday.
"During the night, the strategic aviation of Russia’s Aerospace Forces has struck 14 Ukrainian military targets. They include two command centers, two launch platforms of Buk-M1 surface-to-air missile systems in the vicinity of Krasnogorka and Verkhnetoretskoye, one artillery cluster, two depots of missile and artillery armaments and munitions and three fuel depots, as well as six defended posts and areas of concentration of the combat equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces," he said.
According to him, Russian air defense systems also shot down six Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) "in the vicinity of the populated localities of Nikolaev, Kherson, Kurakhovka, Industrialnoye, Velikaya Novoselka."
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, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
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.