MOSCOW, February 25. /TASS/. Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in a conversation with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin symphonized with the special military operation to protect Donbass, the press service of the Kremlin reported after the leaders' conversation.

"[They] discussed the development of the situation in connection with the special military operation to protect the civilians of Donbass, as well as the implementation of the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine," the report said.

It was noted that Mirziyoyev "was sympathetic to the actions undertaken by the Russian side."

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.