MOSCOW, May 10. /TASS/. Russian forces have eliminated 163 Ukrainian combat aircraft, 124 helicopters, 793 unmanned aerial vehicles and 2,979 tanks and other armored vehicles since the start of their special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said on Tuesday.

"Overall, the following targets have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation: 163 aircraft, 124 helicopters, 793 unmanned aerial vehicles, 300 surface-to-air missile systems, 2,979 tanks and other combat armored vehicles, 351 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,440 field artillery guns and mortars and 2,789 special military motor vehicles," the spokesman said.

Russian air defenses forces shot down three Ukrainian drones and intercepted a Tochka-U missile over the town of Khartsyzsk in Donbass overnight, Konashenkov said.

"Throughout the night, Russian air defense capabilities eliminated three Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in the areas of the settlements of Mospino and Yunokommunarovsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the city of Odessa. A Ukrainian Tochka-U missile and a shell of the Smerch multiple launch rocket system were intercepted over the community of Khartsyzsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.

Another two Smerch rockets were shot down near Malaya Kamyshevakha and Izyum, the general said.

A Su-25 ground attack plane of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down in an aerial battle in the Kharkov Region and Russian combat aircraft also struck 16 areas of amassed enemy manpower and military equipment overnight, Konashenkov said.

"On the evening of May 9, a Su-25 plane of the Ukrainian Air Force was shot down in an aerial battle near the settlement of Novaya Dmitrovka in the Kharkov Region," the spokesman said.

Throughout the night, Russian operational-tactical and army aviation aircraft struck 16 areas of amassed Ukrainian manpower and military hardware, the general said.

"Missile and artillery troops hit 33 command posts, 407 areas of the amassment of manpower and military equipment, and also five ammunition and fuel depots in the areas of Nikolayev and Mirnoye in the Nikolayev Region," Konashenkov said.

The strikes eliminated up to 380 Ukrainian nationalists and incapacitated 53 items of military hardware, the spokesman said.