The Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian troops do not bomb Ukrainian cities, nor do they fire on retreating Ukrainian troops. According to the official representative of the department, Igor Konashenkov, the Ukrainian military is leaving their positions en masse, and the forces of the DPR and LPR are on the offensive. He added that Kiev began to distribute fake videos about great casualties among civilians “according to the well-known templates of the White Helmets.” The Ukrainian authorities announced the death of more than 40 people and dozens of injured.
According to the representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the military infrastructure of Ukraine is disabled by high-precision means, and nothing threatens the civilian population.
“The armed forces of the Russian Federation are not inflicting any missile, air or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine,” Mr. Kornashenkov said. He added that the Ukrainian border guards offered no resistance. “Reconnaissance data show that individual units and servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are massively leaving their positions, abandoning their weapons,” he said.
Aleksey Arestovich, an adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, said that more than 40 people were killed during the hostilities. “I know that now there are more than 40 dead and several dozen wounded,” he said at a briefing (quoted by Interfax). There are also reports of civilian casualties.
Today, February 24, in the morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the start of a military operation in the Donbass and the entry of troops into the DPR and LPR. Explosions are heard in many cities across Ukraine.
Read more about what is happening, read the online broadcast “Kommersant”.