MOSCOW, February 28./TASS/. Only officers and contract servicemen take part in the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told journalists on Monday.

"Let me emphasize that only officers and servicemen doing military service under contract as privates and sergeants take part in the special military operation on the side of the Russian Armed Forces," Konashenkov said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the leaders of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. The Russian head of state 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 through the use of precision weapons. Civilians are not threatened, the Russian military assured.