MOSCOW, May 23. /TASS/. Russian troops have destroyed 177 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 990 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), 3,226 tanks and other armored vehicles and 421 multiple rocket launchers since the beginning of their special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Monday.

"Overall, the following targets have been eliminated since the beginning of the special military operation: 177 aircraft, 125 helicopters, 990 unmanned aerial vehicles, 319 surface-to-air missile systems, 3,226 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 421 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,643 field artillery guns and mortars and 3,106 special military motor vehicles," the spokesman said.

Russian missile and artillery troops struck over 680 Ukrainian military targets in the past 24 hours, Konashenkov said.

"The missile and artillery troops eliminated 73 command posts, 578 areas of amassed Ukrainian manpower and military hardware, and also 37 artillery and mortar units at firing positions. They also destroyed 13 tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, five Grad multiple launch rocket systems and three ammunition depots," the spokesman said.

Russian forces delivered strikes by precision missiles to wipe out armaments and military equipment of the 10th Ukrainian mountain assault brigade in the Zhitomir Region being relocated to Donbass, Konashenkov said.

"Sea-launched long-range precision missiles that struck the Malin railway station in the Zhitomir Region wiped out the armaments and military hardware of the Ukrainian 10th mountain assault brigade from Ivano-Frankovsk that were being relocated to Donbass," the spokesman said.

Russian combat aircraft hit 39 areas of amassed Ukrainian manpower and an ammunition depot in the Lugansk Region and eliminated over 230 nationalists in the past day, Konashenkov said.

"Operational-tactical and army aviation aircraft wiped out 39 areas of amassed manpower and military hardware, and also eliminated an ammunition depot in the area of the settlement of Krasny Liman in the Lugansk People’s Republic. Overall, the air strikes eliminated over 230 nationalists and destroyed 33 pieces of Ukrainian military equipment," the spokesman said.

The Russian Aerospace Forces delivered strikes by precision missiles to wipe out four Ukrainian command posts and a communications center of Ukraine’s tactical combat group North in the past 24 hours, Konashenkov said.

"In the past 24 hours, air-launched precision missiles struck four command posts, a communications center of the North operational-tactical group near the settlement of Bakhmut in the Donetsk People’s Republic, 48 areas of amassed manpower and military equipment, and also six ammunition depots in the areas of the settlements of Soledar, Sol, Bakhmut, Berestovoye, Zakotnoye and Nyrkovo in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

In the area of the settlement of Bakhmut in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the Russian forces eliminated a Ukrainian Osa-AKM anti-aircraft missile system, the general said.

Russian air defense forces shot down three Ukrainian Su-25 ground attack aircraft and also intercepted two Tochka-U missiles in the Kherson Region in the past 24 hours, Konashenkov said.

"Russian air defense capabilities shot down three Su-25 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force in the past 24 hours, including two over the settlement of Kiselyovka in the Kherson Region and one over Pavlograd in the Kharkov Region," the spokesman said.

The Russian air defense forces also intercepted two Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missiles over the settlement of Tomina Balka in the Kherson Region, and eight shells of the Smerch multiple launch rocket system in the areas of the communities of Izyum, Topolskoye, Semyonovka and Bikino in the Kharkov Region, the general added.

The Russian air defense forces also shot down 13 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles near the communities of Chervony Yar, Chernobayevka, Mirnoye and Aleksandrovka in the Kherson Region, Yunokommunarovsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Khotomlya, Sinichino, Petrovskoye and Terny in the Kharkov Region, including a Bayraktar TB2 drone near Lozovaya in the Kharkov Region, the general specified.