Russia MoD unveils tally of 20th day of spec op in Ukraine

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On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Russian Airborne Special Forces (VDV) have seized a large number of foreign weapons in the outskirts of Kiev, after battles with "Ukrainian extremist nationalists."

A clip published by the Russian Ministry of Defense featured the Javelin US-Made anti-tank system, German Panzerfaust weapons, and several other portable missile systems. The clip also featured Russian soldiers loading these spoils into their military vehicles.

🇷🇺💥 Russian paratroopers fighting Ukrainian nationalists, captured anti-tank systems, hand grenade launchers, portable anti-aircraft missile systems of Western production ➡️ https://t.co/C5LhwBv2Ad pic.twitter.com/I695IrncV3

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) March 15, 2022

A Russian airborne troops soldier noted that all weapons will be handed over to representatives of the Lugansk and Donetsk People's Republics.

Earlier, units of the Russian airborne special forces took control of a support center for "Ukrainian ultra-nationalists and foreign mercenaries," in the town of Guta-Mezhigorskaya in the Kiev province.

Yesterday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the regions of Melitopol and Kherson were completely under the full control of Russian forces.

Patrushev: Kiev had capabilities needed to build nuclear weapon

The Secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, announced today that "Ukraine's manufacture of a nuclear weapon "would have threatened global security," noting that Russia would not have allowed this weapon to appear among the uncontrollable ultra-nationalists.

During a session on security in the North Caucasus, Patrushev announced that it has become clear that US advisors are encouraging and helping the "Kiev regime to build biological and nuclear weapons," adding that Ukraine has everything necessary for this: capabilities, technologies, raw materials and means of delivery.

Patrushev stressed that the statements of the Ukrainian leadership about the possibility of changing the country's nuclear status were not hollow words.

The Secretary of the Russian Security Council stated that such intentions can be turned into reality, saying that the situation represents a clear threat to the security of not only Russia but to the whole world, warning that it could lead to the outbreak of a nuclear war.

Patrushev stressed that Russia cannot allow "fanatical and uncontrollable nationalists to have nuclear weapons." The Secretary of the Russian Security Council noted that US tactical nuclear weapons have already been deployed in Europe.

"The United States has already used nuclear weapons against civilians, it has dropped atomic bombs on cities in Japan, and used depleted uranium munitions in Iraq and Yugoslavia," Patrushev explained.

In this regard, he stated that the consequences of using this type of munition continue to affect the environment and human health, which significantly increases deaths from cancer.

Security Council of Russia obtains evidence on Kiev plan to invade Donbass, Crimea in March

Moscow, Patrushev said, obtained evidence of the "Kiev regime" planning to invade Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and Crimea in March, explaining that Russia obtained this evidence during its special military operation in Ukraine. 

Russia 24 had reported that Moscow's intelligence had obtained info about a Ukrainian plan to invade Donbass in February, adding that Kiev's plan included inviting NATO forces in Ukraine to prevent a Russian intervention.

Member of Russian President Vladimir Putin's advisory team Nikita Mikhalkov said the goal of sending arms to Ukraine over the period of several months was to stock these weapons for the NATO forces to use them later on.

Russia evacuates 260,000 people from Donetsk, Lugansk, Ukraine

Moscow evacuated around 260,000 people from areas of conflict in Ukraine, including 56,000 children, without the participation of the Kiev regime, the head of the Defense Ministry's National Defense Management Center, General Mikhail Mezentsev, said Tuesday. He also added that the evacuations also included people from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

🚌 Evacuation of Mariupol residents.

▪ Civilians of Mariupol managed to escape from the city, where the local Ukrainian authorities are dysfunctional, and the nationalists are holding people hostage, using them as a human shield. pic.twitter.com/GNmmY2x4YI

— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) March 15, 2022

"Despite all the obstacles created by the nationalist battalions and the official Kiev to the evacuation of citizens, 11,372 people, including 1,873 children, were evacuated from the dangerous zones of various regions of Ukraine, as well as the Lugansk and Donetsk people's republics, without the involvement of the Ukrainian side over the past day," he said.

"In total, since the start of the special military operation, it has been 258,791 people, including 56,180 children," Mezentsev also revealed.

The Russian border, he said, was crossed by 1,368 personal cars, bringing the total to 29,291.

Ukraine nationalists holding 7070 foreign nationals from 22 states hostage: Russian MoD

"Ukrainian nationalists continue holding 7070 foreign nationals from 22 states, in addition to the crews of 70 foreign ships," Mezentsev revealed.

The Russian official also stressed that Moscow was working around the hour with the representatives of the relevant diplomatic circles to find out the fate of the illegally detained foreign individuals. 

The Ukrainian authorities are still not responding to the calls of the foreign states trying to save the lives of their citizens and get them out of the situation they are in.

Kiev committed a war crime in Donetsk, bombing civilian targets in the city and killing 20 of them.

Donetsk republic leader, Denis Pushilin, said downtown Donetsk was hit by a Ukrainian Tochka-U missile filled with cluster munitions.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov touched on Ukraine's actions in Donetsk, revealing the toll of the Ukrainian Tochka-U attack, a missile containing cluster munition. He described the bombing as a "war crime."

Content warning: #Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed that Ukrainian forces fired a missile filled with cluster munitions on #Donetsk yesterday, killing 20 people and wounding 28. #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/W5TrpItN54

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) March 15, 2022

Konashenkov said there were children among those seriously injured, assuring that the injured were taken to medical centers.