Russia Has Info Some Ukrainian Fighter Jets Flying Into Romania and Other Countries, MoD Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that the Russian army has nearly completed the demolition of military infrastructure in Ukraine. Russia will consider any country introducing no-fly zone over Ukraine as participant in military conflict, Putin said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said it has reliable information that some Ukrainian fighter aircraft flew to Romania and other neighbouring countries.

The Ukrainian air force has lost 11 combat aircraft and 2 helicopters as of Sunday, according to Defence Ministry Spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov.

"On 6 March, high-precision long-range weapons were used to disable an airfield of the Ukrainian Air Force in Vinnytsia," Konashenkov said.

Practically all operational Ukrainian aviation is destroyed, the ministry added.

Russia began a special operation to demilitarize and "denazify" Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics in countering the aggression of Ukrainian troops.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the goal of the operation was "protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years."

Russia's Defence Ministry, in turn, stressed that the nation's high-precision strikes targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure do not pose a threat to the civilian population. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that it has no plans to occupy Ukraine.