Russian troops have occupied the town of Melitopol in Ukraine's southern region of Zaporizhzhya, Russian news agencies Interfax and Sputnik quoted the country's defense ministry as saying.
Melitopol is a medium-sized city near the main Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
Russian forces entered Melitopol without resistance during the operation aimed at demilitarizing Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Defense told reporters, TASS reports.
"On the evening of February 26, after an amphibious landing near the populated locality of Azovskoye (Ukraine), Russian units were on the march and entered Melitopol, without encountering any resistance. The residents of Melitopol welcomed the Russian troops moving through the city. "Some senior citizens came out on the streets waving red flags," the defense ministry said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address Thursday morning that in response to a request from the heads of the Donbas republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation to protect people "who have suffered from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.” The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans to invade the territories of Ukraine.
When clarifying the emerging developments, the Russian Ministry of Defense assured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgical strikes and incapacitation of Ukrainian military infrastructure, and that there is no threat to the civilian population, but so far dozens have been killed civilians.
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