Russia rules out any threat to Ukrainian civilians during military action

Russia has ruled out any threat to Ukrainian civilians as it carries out military operations in the country, local media reported.

The Russian Defence Ministry has clarified that the Russian army is not carrying out any missile, aviation or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine and is not targeting civilians, Sputnik News reported.

"Military infrastructure, air defense facilities, military airfields, aviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are being put out of action by [Russia's] high-precision means of destruction," the news agency quoted the ministry as saying.

The ministry added that the military action does not threaten the Ukrainian civilian population.

The ministry's remarks come after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special "military operation to protect Donbas" in eastern Ukraine.

However, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Thursday said Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and added that Ukrainian cities are under strikes.

The Ukrainian ambassador to the United Nations requested the members of the UN to "stop the war."

At an emergency meeting of the Security Council, Ukrainian envoy Sergiy Kyslytsya said, "It is the responsibility of this body to stop the war. So I call on every one of you to do everything possible to stop the war."

Defending Russia's decision to take military action in the Donbas region, the Russian envoy to the UN Vasily Alekseevich Nebenzya said "the root of today's crisis around Ukraine is the actions of Ukraine itself."

Nebenzya said that the Russian operation is aimed to protect residents in eastern Ukraine.