NOURNEWS - Air strikes by the Russian military destroyed 74 military infrastructure targets of the Ukrainian armed forces, the Russian Defense Ministry reported.
Among them are 11 airfields, three command centres, a Ukrainian Navy post, 18 S-300 radars (NATO reporting name SA-10 Grumble), and Buk (NATO reporting name Gadfly) air defense systems of the Ukrainian military, the Russian Defense Ministry elaborated, RIA Novosti reproted.
In addition, Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian attack helicopter and four Turkish-made Bayraktar strike drones in the Donbass region, the defense ministry reported.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered to create corridors for the safe exit of surrendering Ukrainian troops from combat zones and directed the Russian military to treat them with respect. According to the defense ministry, at least 14 Ukrainian servicemen have already surrendered since the launch of an operation by the Russian military and forces from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR).
"The military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, unlike nationalists, took an oath to the Ukrainian people and obeyed orders, treat them with respect," the order said.
The Russian Defense Ministry further reiterated its earlier statement that Russian forces are not targeting cities or social infrastructure in Ukrainian garrisons in order to avoid casualties among the military and their families residing there.
The statement comes in the wake of the launch of a special operation by the Russian armed forces in the Donbass region, ordered by President Vladimir Putin early on February 24. He justified the move by the need to intervene in the situation in the DPR and LPR, which he has repeatedly described as "genocide" committed by the nationalist government in Kiev.
NOURNEWS