DPR forces capture Volnovakha: Russian MoD

The Volnovakha city has been seized by the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), according to Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov.

"Units of the Donetsk People's Republic liberated the city of Volnovakha," Konashenkov said, adding that three more settlements were captured.

The DPR soldiers have also continued to encircle Mariupol, according to Konashenkov.

Coincidingly, DPR forces Spokesperson Eduard Basurin told Russia's Channel One that the liberation of Volnovakha is a little success that will result in the complete control of Mariupol.

Earlier, Russia's Defense Ministry announced that Russian military forces took complete control of the Ukrainian regional center of Kherson.

Basurin also articulated that the morale of Ukraine's armed forces will be crushed shortly.

According to the Spokesperson, the DPR forces currently hold over 80 villages, and Kiev still controls roughly 35-40% of the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk.

A senior officer of the Donetsk People’s Republic forces, Alexander Semenov, told Sputnik on Monday that the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, a port city on the Azov Sea and a major industrial hub, has been completely surrounded by pro-Russian forces, which have launched an operation to clean up city districts.

Since the start of the special operation, Russian soldiers have destroyed over 3,200 Ukrainian military facilities, according to Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov.

"In total, 3,213 Ukrainian military infrastructure facilities were destroyed during the operation. Including 98 aircraft, 118 unmanned aerial vehicles, 1041 tanks, and other armored combat vehicles, 113 multiple launch rocket systems, 389 field artillery guns and mortars, 843 units of special military vehicles," the Spokesperson told a briefing.

Konashenkov also stated that the Ukrainian military airfields in Lutsk and Ivano-Frankivsk have been put out of operation.

Earlier, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Thursday that Moscow's Armed Forces are not attacking Ukrainian cities, but are instead targeting Ukraine's military infrastructure using precision weapons.

The Russian interagency coordination center on humanitarian response, on Sunday, reported that more than 163,000 people, including 42,729 children, were evacuated from areas where Russia was conducting its operation in Ukraine.