Russia Says It Destroyed 70 Military Targets, Ukraine Claims To Have Killed 100 Russian Soldiers

Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Ukraine claimed it destroyed seven Russian planes, four helicopters, more than 10 armored vehicles.

Ukrainian soldiers stand in a trench near a border region with Russia (Getty Images)

New Delhi: Russia claimed that its army had destroyed more than 70 military targets, including 11 airfields, in Ukraine as President Vladimir Putin launched a military offensive in the east European country, AFP reported.

On the other hand, Ukraine claimed it had killed more than 100 Russian military personnel and destroyed seven Russian planes, four helicopters, more than 10 armored vehicles, a report in The Kyiv Independent said.

Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson, said a Ukrainian military helicopter and four drones had also been shot down.

"As a result of strikes carried out by the Russian armed forces, 74 Ukrainian military ground facilities were destroyed. 
Destroyed facilities included 11 airfields, three command posts and 18 radar stations of the S-300 and Buk-M1 anti-aircraft missile systems," AFP quoted Konashenkov as saying.

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The spokesperson further said presently "armed groups of nationalists" were putting up resistance and claimed that Ukrainian troops wanted to leave the area of hostilities.

Russian air strikes hit military facilities across the country as ground forces crossed into Ukraine from several directions. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said a "full-scale invasion" was underway, AFP reported.

AFP quoted Ukrainian official sources as saying that at least 68 people were killed, including both soldiers and civilians, due to heavy bombardments.

In the deadliest single strike, 18 people were killed at a military base near Ukraine's Black Sea port city of Odessa.

Earlier in the day, the Russian Defence Ministry, in a statement, said it had neutralised Ukraine's air defences and air bases in a series of precision attacks. However, Ukraine has issued a statement, saying that Russia's claim of having "neutralised" its air defences was false.