Nearly 2,500 Ukrainian military targets destroyed till now, claims: Russian defence ministry

MOSCOW: As many as 2,482 Ukrainian military targets have been destroyed by the Russian armed forces since the beginning of its military operation in the country,  citing the Russian defence ministry.

"In total, 2,482 military targets of Ukraine were hit during the operation, including 87 command posts and communication centres of the Ukrainian military, 124 S-300, Buk M-1 and Osa air defence missile systems, 79 radar stations," the news agency quoted the Russian defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying.

According to Konashenkov, the destroyed facilities also include 866 tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, 91 multiple rocket launchers, 317 field artillery pieces and mortars, 634 units of special military vehicles, 81 unmanned aerial vehicles.

As per Russian claims, the Russian aerospace forces destroyed 158 military facilities in Ukraine over the past day. They also shot down two MiG-29 and one Su-27 jet in the air, disabled two S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems, three Buk M-1 self-propelled firing systems, four command posts, two radar stations, nine ammunition depots and 11 areas of concentration of weapons and military equipment, according to the media outlet.

Russia also claims to have disabled the Ukrainian forces' Ozerne airbase in the Zhytomyr area.

Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.