Briefing by Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as of 7 p.m. on April 16, 2022 on the progress of the special operation in Ukraine
During the day, high-precision airborne missiles hit 15 enemy targets.
Among them: six places of concentration of Ukrainian military equipment and seven strongpoints of Ukrainian troops were destroyed in the areas of BARVENKOVO, RUBEZHNOYE, POPASNAYA, NOVOZVANOVKA, KRASNOARMEYSK, SELIDOVO and NOVOBAKHMUTOVKA settlements.
As a result of the strikes, more than 320 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and wounded, 23 armored vehicles and seven vehicles of various purposes were destroyed.
Operational-tactical aviation destroyed 67 areas of concentration of personnel and Ukrainian military equipment during the day.
Missile forces hit 317 military facilities, including: 274 strongholds and areas of concentration of enemy manpower, 24 command posts and two field fuel storage facilities of Ukrainian troops.
Russian air defenses near ODESSA shot down a Ukrainian military transport aircraft delivering a large shipment of weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western countries.
Two Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down over the settlements of LOZOVA and VESELAYA.
A total of 134 aircraft, 460 unmanned aerial vehicles, 246 surface-to-air missile systems, 2,269 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 252 multiple rocket launchers, 987 field artillery guns and mortars, and 2,158 special military vehicles have been destroyed since the start of the special military operation.
The entire city territory of MARIUPOL has been completely cleared of fighters of the Nazi formation Azov, foreign mercenaries and Ukrainian troops.
The remnants of the Ukrainian group are now completely blocked on the territory of the Azovstal metallurgical plant. Their only chance to save their lives is to voluntarily lay down their arms and surrender.
Let me remind you that at the time of its encirclement on March 11, Ukrainian forces in Mariupol: the 36th Independent Marines Brigade, the 109th Territorial Defense Brigade, the 503rd Independent Marines Battalion, a company of the 53rd Independent Mechanized Brigade, units of the 17th Antitank Brigade, the Nazi Azov, Aidar and Right Sector groups, police and state border guard units, as well as foreign mercenaries.
The total number of this grouping was about 8,100 people.
During the liberation of Mariupol, 1,464 Ukrainian servicemen already surrendered. The number of those surrendering is increasing daily. This includes those who escaped from the territory of Azovstal. According to their accounts, the total number of Ukrainian servicemen, Nazis and foreign mercenaries who took refuge at Azovstal does not exceed 2,500.
Thereby, as of April 16, the losses of the Ukrainian grouping in MARIUPOL alone amounted to more than 4,000 people.
Therefore, Zelensky's recent statements to the Western media that the irrecoverable losses of the Ukrainian military during the operation allegedly amount to 2.5-3 thousand is a common lie for him.
The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation has reliable data on the true losses of the Ukrainian army, National Guard and arriving foreign mercenaries, which Zelensky is afraid to tell the people of Ukraine.
As of today, Ukrainian irretrievable losses amount to 23,367.
We will soon publish separate data from Ukrainian documents about their losses, revealing the place of death and burial sites of the dead.