Russia destroys S-300 air defense system delivered to Ukraine from Europe

MOSCOW

Russia on Monday said it destroyed an S-300 air defense system, delivered to Ukraine by a European country, near the central city of Dnipro the day before.

"On Sunday, April 10, on the southern outskirts of the city of Dnepropetrovsk, high-precision sea-based Kalibr missiles destroyed an S-300 air defense system hidden in a hangar, which was delivered to the Kiev regime by one of the European countries,” Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said at a daily press briefing in Moscow.

Four S-300 launchers and up to 25 personnel of the Ukrainian armed forces were also hit, he added.

Further, a repair facility with two air defense systems Buk-M1 and Osa AKM were struck with high-precision air-based missiles near the Velyka Novosilka settlement in Donetsk, he said.

In addition, two ammunition depots, an S-300 radar, nine tanks, five self-propelled artillery, five multiple rocket launchers, and more than 60 nationalists were destroyed over the past night, the spokesman said.

The Russian air defense systems downed two S-25 fighter jets and four unmanned aerial vehicles, while a Mi-24 helicopter was shot down with concentrated fire from small arms, Konashenkov said.

Russia also hit 78 objects of Ukraine's military infrastructure, including three command points, an illumination and guidance radar, three positions of short-range anti-aircraft missile systems, four ammunition depots.

The spokesman also gave an overall account for what Russia calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine, saying nearly 230 aircraft and helicopters, and 243 air defense systems have been destroyed so far.

Among destroyed devices were also nearly 2,100 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, and 239 multiple rocket launchers, he said.

At least 1,793 civilians have been killed and 2,439 injured in Ukraine since Russia declared war on Feb. 24, according to UN estimates, with the true figure feared to be much higher.

Around 4.5 million Ukrainians have fled to other countries, with millions more internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.