MoD: Over 100 Ukrainian Covert Op Troops and Foreign Mercenaries Eliminated West of Kiev
07:28 GMT 20.03.2022 (Updated: 09:10 GMT 20.03.2022)
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© The Russian Defence Ministry
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Russia has repeatedly warned foreign countries against allowing their citizens to travel to Ukraine in order to take part in the hostilities, stressing that anyone firing at Russian troops during the special op will be considered a valid target.
According to an official statement by the Russian Ministry of Defence, high-precision missiles were used to strike a Ukrainian base in Ovruch, in the Zhitomir region.
"High-precision air-launched missiles struck the training centre for covert operations forces of the Ukrainian military, where foreign mercenaries were based, near the settlement of Ovruch in the Zhitomir region", Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Sunday, noting that over 100 troops and mercenaries were killed.
At the same time, he noted that the Russian military eliminated a vast number of other military objects.
"Workshops at the Nizhyn repair plant used for the repair of Ukrainian armoured vehicles damaged in combat operations were destroyed with sea-based Kalibr cruise missiles launched from the waters of the Black Sea", he stated, adding that Kinzhal hypersonic missiles launched from the airspace over Crimea had also destroyed a huge Ukrainian base for storing fuel and lubricants in the Nikolaev region.
This is the second major strike by the Russian military targeting foreign mercenaries in Ukraine: a week ago, up to 180 foreign mercenaries were killed in precision strikes against Ukrainian training centres located at the Yavorovsky military compound and near the settlement of Starichi.
© Sputnik / Viktor Antonyk / Go to the mediabankServicemen from the Donetsk People's Republic militia are pictured on a military vehicle in the village of Nikolaevka, Donetsk region, DPR.
![Servicemen from the Donetsk People's Republic militia are pictured on a military vehicle in the village of Nikolaevka, Donetsk region, DPR. Servicemen from the Donetsk People's Republic militia are pictured on a military vehicle in the village of Nikolaevka, Donetsk region, DPR. - Sputnik International, 1920, 20.03.2022](https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/03/03/1093536492_0:0:3320:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_c6195ee62cb459ca13e3a60c753ac714.jpg)
Servicemen from the Donetsk People's Republic militia are pictured on a military vehicle in the village of Nikolaevka, Donetsk region, DPR.
© Sputnik / Viktor Antonyk
/ In the meantime, Russian forces, as well as the DPR and LPR militias, continue to advance in Donbass, tightening the encirclement around the remaining Ukrainian radicals in Mariupol and taking control over multiple settlements.
According to the Defence Ministry, since the beginning of the special op in Ukraine, Russian troops have destroyed some 1,500 tanks, over 1,200 military vehicles, and over 200 drones of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Russia launched its special operation in Ukraine on 24 February, in order to stop the eight-year-long campaign waged by Kiev in Donbass. President Vladimir Putin stressed it was started to rescue the people of Donbass from genocide, and added that Russia's goal is the demilitarisation and denazification of Ukraine.