MOSCOW, March 6. /TASS/. Russia’s Armed Forces have attacked over 2,200 Ukrainian military targets, 69 planes on the ground and 24 airborne planes were eliminated, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

"Overall, during the operation, 2,203 Ukrainian military infrastructure targets were hit. Among them are 76 command points and communication hubs of Ukraine’s armed forces, 111 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa air defense weapons systems, as well as 71 radar stations. Some 69 planes were eliminated on the ground and 24 aircraft in the air, [as well as] 778 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 77 multiple launch rocket systems, 279 artillery guns and mortars, 553 military vehicles and 62 drones," the spokesman said.

On March 6, the Ukrainian Starokonstantinovo military airfield was disabled with high-precision weapons, he added.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address 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 that Russian troops were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. It emphasized that Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons.