The so-called "silence regime" and the provision of security corridors for the exit of civilians from Kiev, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol did not completely stop the actions of the Russian Armed Forces. In other areas, they continued to carry out the tasks of a special military operation in Ukraine.
On Tuesday, March 8, the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Major General Igor Konashenkov, told how these tasks are being solved. In particular, he said that during the past day, the bomber and assault aviation of Russia destroyed 158 military facilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And on March 7, the Ozernoye airfield of the Ukrainian Air Force in the Zhytomyr region was disabled by high-precision long-range weapons. "Fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down two MiG‑29s and one Su‑27 of the Ukrainian Air Force in the air," the general said.
Also, 2 divisions of the S-300 air defense complex, 3 Buk M‑1 self-propelled firing installations, 4 control points, 2 radar stations, 9 ammunition depots and 11 areas of concentration of weapons and military equipment were put out of action.
According to Konashenkov, a total of 2,482 objects of Ukraine's military infrastructure were destroyed during the operation. Among them are 87 control points and communication centers of the Ukrainian armed forces, 124 S‑300, Buk M‑1 and Osa anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as 79 radar stations. 866 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 91 multiple rocket launchers, 317 field artillery and mortars, 634 units of special military vehicles, as well as 81 unmanned aerial vehicles were also destroyed.
Yesterday, the Russian Defense Ministry published video footage of our pilots using the latest Ka-52 Alligator attack helicopters during a special military operation in Ukraine. The shooting captured the work of their crews at night and was accompanied by an explanation that such aircraft are used mainly at low altitudes and in difficult meteorological conditions.
From the commentary to the video, it followed that the crews of the Russian army aviation, acting in pairs, destroyed an anti-tank guided missile anti-aircraft installation and armored vehicles of the enemy. And video materials of objective control confirmed the exact hit of aviation weapons at the target.
"The army aviation performs the tasks of escorting convoys, destroying armored vehicles, delivering troops, military cargo, and air support for units performing tasks within the framework of a special operation," the Russian Defense Ministry noted.
Another video captured the crossing of Russian military equipment across the river.
Our army column was moving along a transport crossing several tens of meters long, guided by engineering means. The convoy mainly consisted of military trucks and armored personnel carriers. Their crossing over the water barrier was led by a soldier-traffic controller, who gave signals to the drivers of cars with flags.
From the following frames it became clear why our military were forced to force the river with the help of their special engineering means. There was a major bridge to the side of this crossing. But it was apparently undermined by the Ukrainian military during the retreat. Nevertheless, this did not stop the movement of the Russian army.
Another video was made during the march of artillery and missile units of the Russian Army. Heavy self-propelled artillery units with distinctive signs in the form of the Latin letter z applied to the armor are walking along a dirt road traveled by caterpillars.
Our servicemen are on the armor. One of them, noticing that he was being filmed, waves his hand affably. The military man's face is covered with a balaclava, apparently from the dirt flying in different directions. Only the eyes are visible.
The BM-21 Grad multiple launch rocket systems follow the self-propelled guns. Missiles are mounted on their launchers. That is, the machines are ready at any moment to turn around in battle formation and strike at the enemy.
The troops of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics also continue active operations. So, the LPR units, leading the offensive, took control of eight more settlements - Borsonino, Kremennaya, Peschanoe, Varvarovka, Wheat, Epifanovka, Novodruzhesk and Belogorovka. It is reported that the advance was 9 kilometers.
And the units of the People's Militia of the DPR established control over the Osaviakhim quarter in Mariupol.
On the eve of the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of Russia, based on the testimonies of civilians who escaped from the city, told what a difficult situation has been created in Mariupol occupied by nationalists. People are hiding in basements there. Due to the lack of electricity and gas in their homes, they are forced to cook their food on the street, on bonfires. The militants are dispersing them. Nationalists open fire on all civilians trying to leave their homes.
Citizens are forced to paint on the walls and doors of houses: "Don't shoot - there are children here!". However, the Nazis, using terrorist tactics, deploy their firing points in houses with such inscriptions.
In addition, the militants of the nationalist battalions "Azov" and "Aidar" banned in the Russian Federation are firing at the units of the People's Militia of the DPR that entered Mariupol from positions equipped in schools, hospitals, maternity hospitals and kindergartens.
And here is what kind of picture the servicemen of the Donetsk People's Republic faced a few days ago on Victory Avenue in Mariupol. There, a unit of Ukrainian armed nationalists drove more than 150 civilians ahead of them. The militants used them as a human shield.
"Having found the fighters of the People's Militia of the DPR, the Ukrainian nationalists opened fire on them from behind the backs of civilians. As a result of the shooting by the Ukrainian Nazis, 4 civilians were killed and 5 wounded," Konashenkov said. He dwelt on two more important circumstances.
The Russian Defense Ministry is reliably aware of Ukrainian combat aircraft that previously flew to Romania and other border countries. "We draw attention to the fact that the use of the airfield network of these countries to base Ukrainian combat aircraft with subsequent use against the Russian Armed Forces can be regarded as the involvement of these states in an armed conflict," the general warned.
His other warning concerns Ukrainian defense enterprises. Konashenkov recalled that our military, with the help of high-precision long-range weapons, disable weapons and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, the Kiev regime of nationalists forces employees of enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine to restore them for subsequent deployment to combat areas.
"As part of the task of demilitarizing Ukraine, the Russian Armed Forces will defeat Ukrainian enterprises of the military-industrial complex with precision weapons," General Konashenkov said. - In order to avoid a threat to the lives of employees of enterprises of the Ukrainian defense industry, we warn in advance about planned strikes on such objects. We call on the staff of the Ukrainian defense industry plants not to be led by the Kiev regime of nationalists and leave the territories of their enterprises."
Yuri Gavrilov