The Russian military destroyed the S-300 air defense system delivered to Ukraine by Slovakia near the city of Dnipro on Sunday, a defense ministry official said Monday, while Bratislava denied Moscow's claims.
"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 Kyiv regime by one of the European countries," Defense Ministry spokesperson 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.
Slovakian government, however, denied Kremlin's claims. "Our S-300 system has not been destroyed," Lubica Janikova, spokeswoman for Slovakia's Prime Minister Eduard Heger said in a statement sent to The Associated Press (AP). She said any other claim is not true.
Further, a repair facility with two air defense systems Buk-M1 and Osa AKM was struck with high-precision air-based missiles near the Velyka Novosilka settlement in Donetsk, Konashenkov further 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 last night, the spokesperson 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, illumination and guidance radars, three positions of short-range anti-aircraft missile systems and four ammunition depots.
The spokesperson also gave an overall account of 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 the destroyed weapons 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 U.N. 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 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
