Russia Claims To Kill 600 More Ukrainian Troops In Battle In Kirovohrad, Wednesday 4 May

Smoke rises above a burning oil warehouse, located on the outskirts of the city, amid the Ukrainian-Russian conflict in Donetsk, Ukraine, Wednesday (4/5/2022). (Antara/Reuters/Alexander Ermochenko)

JAKARTA - Russia said on Thursday that its artillery shells hit a number of Ukrainian positions and strongholds last night, killing more than 600 Ukrainian fighters.

"The armed forces of the Russian Federation are continuing special military operations in Ukraine," the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"More than 600 nationalists and 61 units of weapons and military equipment were destroyed," the statement continued.

The Russian Defense Ministry also said that Russian missiles damaged aviation equipment at the Kanatovo airfield in the central Kirovohrad region of Ukraine and a large ammunition depot in the city of Mykolaiv.

Russia sent hundreds of thousands of troops into Ukraine on February 24, in what it described as a special operation to weaken its neighboring country's military capabilities and eliminate people it deems dangerous nationalists.

Ukrainian troops are stepping up resistance and the West has imposed sanctions on Russia to get it to withdraw its troops from Ukraine.