MOSCOW, March 2. /TASS/. The Russian troops have wiped out 1,502 Ukrainian military facilities and destroyed 47 aircraft since the start of the special operation in Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Wednesday.
"Over the period of the special operation, 1,502 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities have been crippled, including 51 command and communications centers of the Ukrainian armed forces, 38 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa surface-to-air missile systems and 51 radar stations," the spokesman said.
The Russian troops have also destroyed 47 planes on the ground and 11 aircraft in the air, 472 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 62 multiple launch rocket systems, 206 field artillery guns and mortars, 336 special military motor vehicles and 46 unmanned aerial vehicles," the general 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 Ukraine.
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.