Russian MoD Special Military Operation March, 16th Update

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Briefing by Russian Defence Ministry

▪️The grouping of troops of the Lugansk People's Republic, developing the offensive, are moving forward from several directions inside Severodonetsk.

▪️Units of the Donetsk People's Republic are fighting for the capture of Maryinka. The advance was 2 kilometers.

▪️On the morning of March 16, high-precision long-range weapons attacked Ukraine's military infrastructure. As a result of the strike, communication, retransmission and switching hubs were disabled in Vinnytsa.

💥 During the day, aviation and air defence means of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down 1 Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopter Sarany, as well as 6 unmanned aerial vehicles.

✈️💥 Operational-tactical and army aviation hit 34 military assets of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Among them: 1 multiple launch rocket system, 3 command posts, 1 electronic warfare station, 7 ammunition depots and 19 areas of military equipment concentration.

💥 In total, 180 aircraft and helicopters, 166 unmanned aerial vehicles, 1,367 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 132 multiple launch rocket systems, 502 field artillery and mortars, as well as 1,156 units of special military vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were destroyed during the operation.

❗️We know for sure that with the support of Western countries, the Ukrainian Security Service is preparing a provocation with the use of toxic substances against civilians.

▪️The purpose of the provocation is to accuse Russia of using chemical weapons against the population of Ukraine.

▪️I want to officially state that the units of the Russian Armed Forces involved in the special military operation do not have chemical munitions.

▪️The Russian Federation, unlike the United States, has long fulfilled its international obligations by completely destroying all chemical weapons stockpiles.

▪️To prevent any provocations of Ukrainian nationalists with toxic substances, Russian servicemen in the liberated territory take dangerous objects under control and ensure their safety.

▪️I will add that among the combat documentation captured by us in the 4th brigade of the Ukrainian National Guard, there is a detailed map of the territory of Ukraine with objects and types of toxic substances stored on it. Therefore, any attempt of Ukrainian Security Service provocation with the use of toxic substances will be revealed.

❗️We have repeatedly mentioned facts about the atrocities of nationalists terrorizing civilians for any disobedience or attempts to leave settlements.

▪️Today, footage of civilians killed in Chernihov, who were supposedly "shot by Russian servicemen," was circulated on all propaganda resources of the Kiev regime. It was stated that all victims were allegedly queuing for bread.

▪️I would like to stress the absence Russian servicemen in Chernihov.

▪️All units of the Russian Armed Forces are outside Chernihov, blocking roads, and are not conducting any offensive actions on the city.

▪️There are no traces of ammunition explosions on the video footage replicated by Ukrainian propagandists. All windows in nearby buildings are intact. There is no damage to the walls, there are no other traces of an explosion on the ground.

▪️Thus, all the dead people - victims of the terror of Ukrainian nationalists or these video footage - are another stage of the Security Service of Ukraine. We would like to draw your attention to the fact that simultaneously with Ukrainian Internet resources, this fake was published on the official pages of the US Embassy in Ukraine on social networks without any verification and obtaining evidence.

▪️At the same time, the embassy itself, as you know, has already been relocated from Kiev, to Lvov. And it does not notice how Russian servicemen deliver and distribute hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid to residents of Chernihov region in settlements liberated from nationalists.

#MoD #Russia #Ukraine #Briefing
@mod_russia_en