The Su-25 attack aircraft during the operation to demilitarize Ukraine crashed as a result of a piloting error. On Thursday, February 24, Igor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the RF Ministry of Defense, told reporters.

“In the Aerospace Forces of Russia, as a result of a piloting error, a Su-25 attack aircraft crashed. The pilot ejected safely and is already at the location of his military unit, ”Konashenkov said.

At about 11 am on February 24, two Russian civilian cargo ships were subjected to a missile strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Sea of ​​Azov. The fire was fired from the side of Mariupol. As a result of the shelling, one ship was damaged, a fire broke out on board, and one of the crew members was seriously injured.

On the same day in the morning, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his special televised address, announced that a special military operation would be carried out in the Donbass in order to protect the civilian population.

After the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of hitting the country’s military infrastructure and introduced martial law throughout the country. He also said in an interview with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer that he did not know “how long his country would last.”

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, said that the operation to protect Donbass is an attempt to prevent a global war. She stressed that a bloody war with civilian casualties had been waged in Donbass for eight years. Zakharova also stated that the war was fought on various fronts, including sanctions and information.

On February 21, Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the LNR and the DNR. Also, the Russian leader and the heads of both republics Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance. The documents were ratified the next day by both the republics themselves and the Russian State Duma.

The situation on the line of contact in Donbass escalated on February 17. In the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces was reported, including from heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.

Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been carrying out a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kiev blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the conflict.