MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. The statements by Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny about Russia’s losses of aircraft and armored vehicles are false, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday.
"The statement by the Ukrainian Army’s commander-in-chief Zaluzhny about the alleged losses of Russian aircraft and armored vehicles is an absolute lie," the statement said.
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.
Russia’s Defense Ministry reported later on Thursday that Russian troops were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. It emphasized that Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons.