MOSCOW, May 19. /TASS/. Russia’s Aerospace Forces delivered strikes by precision missiles on Ukrainian military sites to wipe out a battalion of S-300 air defense systems in the Nikolayev Region and a battalion of Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile launchers in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Thursday.
In the past 24 hours, air-launched precision missiles of the Russian Aerospace Forces struck seven Ukrainian command posts, including the command centers of the 24th mechanized infantry brigade in Nikolayevka and the 104th territorial defense brigade in Konstantinovka, the spokesman specified.
"The following targets were destroyed: a battalion of S-300 surface-to-air missile systems in the area of Bolshiye Lomzaki in the Nikolayev Region and a battalion of Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile launchers in the area of Slavyanogorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the general said.
The Russian forces also eliminated 11 missile/artillery arms and ammunition depots in the Donetsk People’s Republic and 26 areas of amassed Ukrainian manpower and military equipment, the general said.
Russian President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance 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.