We begin with a message from our National Defense Management Center. Ukrainian nationalists are holding citizens hostage in the basement of a psychiatric hospital in the Kharkov region. They have set up a base in the building. Furthermore, radicals have set up firing positions in schools in the towns of Dnieper, Kramatorsk, and Slavyansk, bringing in armored vehicles, artillery, and multiple-launch rocket systems.

The Ukrainian army is again firing on Donetsk. The towns of Elenovka and Yasinovataya have come under fire as well. In the last 24 hours, dozens of heavy shells have also been launched into the territory of the Lugansk People’s Republic. Representatives of the republic report that two peaceful civilians have been killed, and two more have been injured. The nationalists used Grad missiles and mortars.

These images, provided by the Defense Ministry, show our advanced radar station and C-300 surface-to-air missile systems in operation. Air defense units from the Central Military Command have begun their combat duties at these new positions. The missile system controls the situation in the air, over a radius of several hundred kilometers. And this video shows an aerial strike on Ukraine’s concealed organized positions. The crew of our Su-24M aircraft made the strike from the lowest possible altitude.

Our soldiers are doing all they can to convince the Ukrainian army to lay down its weapons. This is the only correct way out of this situation. We treat prisoners of war in the most humane way. Many soldiers from the Ukrainian armed forces who have already surrendered are saying that they didn’t want to join the army; they had to, otherwise they would have been put in prison. They are also speaking about the atmosphere in the Ukrainian ranks. For example, it is normal for them to abandon their fellow soldiers. 

One Russian soldier commented: “We approach to within five kilometers of them, and surround them. [Using loudspeakers] we tell them to lay down their weapons and go home, to give themselves up and not to attack us. There have been cases where they have surrendered themselves.”

Russian troops have delivered food items and drinking water — 40 tons in total. Residents are coming out of their homes to greet them and help them to unload the trucks. Conditions in the region are difficult, and even the most essential items are lacking. Military doctors have also arrived; they are giving people medical advice, providing medical treatments, and people are queuing to receive medicines. Medicines are also being delivered to hospitals in the region’s towns, where supplies are running out.

Thanks in part to regular humanitarian aid, life in the liberated districts is now going on as normal. Foreign journalists have been able to see this for themselves. Correspondents, including journalists from western countries, have been in the towns and villages that are under our military’s control. They have also visited the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, because all of Europe is worried about its safety. Everywhere the journalists went they spoke to residents and asked them for their opinions. They even went to a wedding — a perfect example of life going on happily. 

The bride, Ekaterina Vasilenko, commented: “We realized that we had survived, we are free… that love conquers all. So we decided to come [to the registry office] and get married. Her husband, Denis Vasilenko, added: “Before everyone was saying: ‘Go abroad’, especially to the young people. But now I see some prospects for children.”