MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. The Russian troops have destroyed 1,812 Ukrainian military facilities in their special operation, including 49 planes on the ground and 13 aircraft in the air, 635 tanks and 54 unmanned aerial vehicles, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Friday.
"The Russian troops continue delivering strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities. Over the period of the operation, they have destroyed 1,812 facilities, including 65 command and communications centers of the Ukrainian armed forces, 56 S-300, Buk-M1 and Osa surface-to-air missile systems and 59 radar stations. They have also destroyed 49 planes on the ground and 13 aircraft in the air, 635 tanks and other armored vehicles, 67 multiple rocket launchers, 252 field artillery guns and mortars, 442 items of special military hardware and also 54 UAVs," the 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 Ukraine 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.