Russian Defence Ministry on special operation: there were two possible variants
“Strictly according to the approved plan”
The Russian Ministry of Defence has delivered the next report on the special military operation in Ukraine the country’s President Vladimir Putin announced on 24 February. The ministry has said it is carried out strictly according to the approved plan.
“I want to stress that the special military operation is carried out strictly according to the approved plan. Avoiding unnecessary civilian casualties is an undoubted priority of the actions of the Russian Armed Forces during the operation. Military infrastructure facilities of Ukraine, equipment and armament, ammunition warehouses and the troops’ tangible property are selectively and accurately destroyed by high-precision weapons,” has claimed the Russian Defence Ministry’s official representative Mayor General Igor Konashenkov.
The Russian Armed Forces have blocked Kyiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Mykolaiv. Kherson Oblast and most of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia are totally controlled, the ministry has claimed.
According to the Defence Ministry, over the month of the special military operation, the losses of Ukrainian troops have totalled nearly 30,000 people, “including more than 14,000 have died and some 16,000 have been injured.”
There are losses among Russians too — 1,351 militaries have died, 3,825 have been injured by now.
Two variants of the special operation
There has been voiced information that Russia considered two variants of carrying out the special military operation. The first one envisaged that it wouldn’t go beyond the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, the second one implied it would affect the territory of Ukraine.
“There were two possible variants. The first one is to be limited to the territory of the DPR and LPR only within the administrative borders of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts, which is fixed in the republics’ constitutions. But then we would have faced the Ukrainian authorities’ constant assistance to the group involved in the so-called operation of united forces,” claimed First Vice Director of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant General Sergey Rudskoy.
The latter circumstance forced Russia to stick to the second variant, writes TASS. Rudskoy has stressed that during Ukraine’s preparation for an attack on Donbas, the DPR and LPR could be protected only by providing them with military help.
“This is what Russia did,” has concluded the first vice director of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
Foiled attack on Donbas
The Russian Ministry of Defence has reminded the audience about Kyiv’s foiled preparation for an attack on Donbas. The nationalists’ unit cohesion was planned to end before 28 February to then start the attack.
“Amid the false statements about the aspiration for peace, Kyiv started a large-scale artillery preparation of strike groups to attack in the east of Ukraine with aircraft and missiles,” Konashenkov has claimed.
He has shown original classified telegrams of the 4th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine Russian militaries managed to obtain. Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine Lieutenant General Mykola Balan’s order as of 22 January 2022 was among them too.
“The document is addressed to heads of northern Kyiv, southern Odesa and western local offices of the National Guard of Ukraine. The order spells out the preparation plan of one of the strike groups for offensive actions in the zone of the so-called operation of united forces in Donbas in detail,” has explained Konashenkov.
So Russia’s special military operation, which started on 24 February, has foiled Ukraine’s all plans. This has helped to save many lives, has noted Konashenkov.
“The Russian Armed Forces’ special military operation, which started on 24 February, has foiled the large-scale attack of strike groups of Ukraine’s troops on the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, which out of Kyiv’s control,” has said the official representative of the Ministry of Defence.