Ukraine Defence Ministry: 800 casualties among Russian forces

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry has said its armed forces have inflicted around 800 casualties on Russian forces since the military operations began on Thursday.

The ministry said more than 30 Russian tanks had been destroyed, along with seven Russian aircraft and six helicopters.

This comes hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree ordering general mobilization, in the wake of Russian military operations.

"Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Malyar informs: Estimated losses of the enemy as of 03:00 25.02.2022 Aircraft 7 units Helicopters 6 units Tanks - more than 30 units. BBM - 130 units. The loss of enemy personnel is approximately (to be specified) 800 people," Ukraine's Defense Ministry tweeted in Ukrainian.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities. Later, Putin ordered special military operations "to protect" the people in the Donbas region.

Since then, several nations including the UK, the US and Canada have condemned Russia's military operations and imposed sanctions on Moscow. The European Union has decided to impose additional sanctions on Russia over the latter's military operation in Ukraine.

Earlier today, explosions were heard in the capital city of Kiev as the Russian special military operation entered the second day.

Ukraine's Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Yenin said explosions were caused by Ukrainian "anti-missile system shooting" a missile out of the sky, CNN reported, noting that the inputs were not independently verified.

On Thursday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said over 70 ground infrastructure facilities belonging to Ukraine were incapacitated by strikes carried out by Russia's Armed Forces.

"As a result of the strikes conducted by Russia's Armed Forces, 74 ground facilities of Ukraine's military infrastructure were knocked out of action. Among them are 11 airfields belonging to the Air Force, three command points, a Ukrainian Navy base and 18 radar stations of S-300 and Buk-M1 missile systems," Konashenkov was quoted as saying by TASS news agency.

The spokesperson further said that the Russian strikes are not targeting Ukrainian cities as well as social facilities in military garrisons.