MOSCOW, February 24. /TASS/. The crew of the RT Arabic TV channel came under fire from the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the village of Elenovka, according to the RT footage posted on its Telegram channel on Thursday.

The report also notes that earlier "the RT France and Ruptly group almost came under fire leaving this place (Elenovka - TASS) back to Donetsk."

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.