Russian aviation has inflicted eight missile and bomb strikes on Ukrainian troops in the Kupyansk direction, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson told Sputnik.
"The crews of Ka-52 and Mi-28 attack helicopters and Su-25 attack aircraft have inflicted eight missile and bomb strikes on the accumulation of manpower, weapons and military equipment of the 14th separate mechanized brigade and the 103rd territorial defense brigade [of Ukraine]," the spokesperson said.
In addition, in the course of hostilities in the Kupyansk direction, Russian forces struck at the concentration of manpower, weapons, military and special equipment of Ukraine's 14th separate mechanized brigade, using a Tornado-S multiple launch rocket system.
The Russian defense ministry spokesperson also told Sputnik that Russian forces have located and destroyed a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group and have thwarted three Ukrainian troop rotation attempts.
Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022, after the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian provocations. In response to Russia’s operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have been supplying weapons to Ukraine.
On September 30, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the heads of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics, as well as Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, signed agreements on the accession of these territories to Russia, following referendums that showed that an overwhelming majority of the local population supported becoming part of Russia.
Ukraine Demilitarization Mainly Completed as Kiev Using Own Weapons Much Less
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday that Ukraine's demilitarization had been mainly completed as Kiev was using its own weapons much less and deploying more weapons supplied by the West.
"Ukraine was very militarized at the start of the special military operation. And, as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said yesterday, one of the tasks was the demilitarization of Ukraine. In fact, this task has been mainly completed because Ukraine is using much less of its own arms, while it is deploying more weapons systems supplied by the West," Peskov told Russian broadcaster RT Arabic.
On the subject of peace negotiations, Peskov said on Saturday that there are provisions of different Ukraine peace initiatives that do not correlate with the Russian stance and are unacceptable, but Moscow is ready for a dialogue with Kiev.
"Those provisions of different peace initiatives, which do not correlate with our stance, are certainly unacceptable for us, but we are open to dialogue unlike the Ukrainian side," Peskov told Russian newspaper Izvestia.
On Friday during a visit from several African leaders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reiterated that his country would not discuss an end to the conflict until Russian troops withdrawal from what he claims are Ukraine's borders.
Putin listed the “demilitarization” of Ukraine as one of the objectives of the military operation when it was launched in February 2022.
The bulk of Ukraine’s arsenal initially consisted of Soviet-era weapon systems and their upgraded versions. However, Western countries have been increasingly supplying Kiev with modern equipment, including heavy tanks, anti-armor and anti-air missiles, drones, multiple rocket launchers, and howitzers.
Earlier this month, Kiev lost its first German-made Leopard 2 tanks and US-made M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles when Ukrainian troops launched their long-anticipated counteroffensive. According to Moscow the assault has so far failed to break through Russian defenses.
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