MOSCOW, March 15. /TASS/. Russian airborne troops have captured a base of Ukrainian nationalists and foreign mercenaries near the Guta-Mezhigorskaya settlement, seizing ten Javelin missiles and other weapons, Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Tuesday.

"Russian airborne troops captured a base of nationalists and foreign mercenaries near the Guta-Mezhigorskaya settlement on the evening of March 14. Russian paratroopers seized ten US-made Javelin anti-tank missiles and a number of other weapons provided to Ukraine by Western countries," he specified.

According to Konashenkov, the Javelin missiles and other foreign weapons will be handed over to the people’s militias of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to occupy Ukrainian territories and the goal was to demilitarize and denazify the country. Russia’s Defense Ministry stressed that the Russian Armed Forces were not delivering strikes against Ukrainian cities. The ministry emphasized that the Ukrainian military infrastructure was being destroyed by precision weapons and there was no threat to civilians.