BREAKING: Russia Destroys Ukraine Thermal Power Plant, Says Report

Russia-Ukraine Crisis LIVE: Russia had claimed that it destroyed Ukraine Airbases, Air Defences.  The Ukrainian military, on the other hand, reported that it has shot down as many as five enemy planes and a helicopter in the eastern part of the country. 

New Delhi: A thermal power plant in Ukraine is reportedly destroyed, hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised a “special military operation” in the conflict-hit Donbas region in the eastern part of the country.

Earlier in the day, Russia had claimed that it destroyed Ukraine Airbases, Air Defences.  The Ukrainian military, on the other hand, reported that it has shot down as many as five enemy planes and a helicopter in the eastern part of the country.

“According to the Joint Forces Command, today, February 24, in the area of the Joint Forces operation, five planes and a helicopter of the aggressors were shot down,” the Ukraine military said.

Media reports said there were also attacks in Kharkiv city in eastern Ukraine near the Russian border, in Kramatorsk town in the frontline in eastern Ukraine, in Vasylkiv city near Kiev, in Dnipro city in central Ukraine as well as in the southern port city of Odessa.

Earlier in the day, Putin in a televised address said he had decided to conduct a special military operation to protect the people “who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Ukrainian regime for eight years”. The Russian leader reiterated that Moscow had no plans “to occupy Ukrainian territories”.