MOSCOW, February 28. /TASS/. The Russian troops destroyed 1,146 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities during their special operation for demilitarizing Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Monday.
"Since the beginning of the special operation, the Russian Armed Forces have crippled 1,146 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities, including 31 command and communications centers, 81 S-300, Buk-M1, and Osa surface-to-air missile systems, and also 75 radar stations," the spokesman said.
Operational-tactical aircraft of Russia’s Aerospace Force wiped out six armored columns of the Ukrainian armed forces, the general said.
The Russian combat planes "destroyed 311 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 42 aircraft and helicopters (including those on the ground), 51 multiple launch rocket systems, 147 field artillery guns and mortars, and 263 special military motor vehicles," the Defense Ministry spokesman said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on the morning of 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 and the operation was aimed at demilitarizing and denazifying the country.
When clarifying the unfolding developments, 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.