KYIV: The Russian Defense Ministry has confirmed that its ground forces have moved into Ukraine from Crimea, the first confirmation from Moscow that its ground forces have moved in.
Russia previously said only that it unleashed air and missile strikes on Ukrainian air bases, air defense batteries and other military facilities.
The ministry said it has destroyed 83 Ukrainian military facilities.
For the first time since the start of the action, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed the Russian ground troops had rolled into Ukraine, saying they advanced toward the city of Kherson, northwest of Crimea.
Kherson sits on reservoir providing the bulk of fresh water for Crimea until Ukraine cut it off with a dam in 2017 in response to Moscow's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.
Konashenkov said that the Russian troops' move allowed to resume water supply to Crimea.