MOSCOW, April 22. /TASS/. Russian engineering troops seized control of a Ukrainian army arsenal with thousands of tonnes of ammunition in the Kharkov Region, Russia’s Defense Ministry reported on Friday.

"During their special military operation, the Russian engineering troops seized control of a Ukrainian army arsenal on an area of several hundred hectares with depots containing thousands of tonnes of ammunition in the Kharkov Region," the ministry said in a statement.

The depots are storing, in particular, munitions for multiple launch rocket systems with cluster warheads, the Russian Defense Ministry specified.

"These are the munitions that the Ukrainian forces used to bombard residential quarters of populated areas, constantly endangering civilians," the ministry stressed, adding that the depots also contained ammunition for small arms, tube artillery, the armament of air defense systems and various grenades.

"In addition to Soviet-made ammunition, the depots stored Western-made mines and shells," the ministry stressed.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on 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. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.

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.