The head of the Ministry of Defense Shoigu announced the opening of a car service on the mainland to the Crimea
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu held a conference call with the leadership of the Armed Forces. He spoke about the course of the military special operation in Ukraine, the number of surrendered servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the establishment of peaceful life in the Donbas. Shoigu's main statements are in the material of "Gazeta.Ru».
97 percent of the LPR
Sergei Shoigu announced the taking under control of Svyatogorsk and other large settlements, including Studenok, Yarovaya, Kirovsk, Yampol and Drobyshevo.
"A significant part of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics along the left bank of the Seversky Donets, including the cities of Krasny Liman and Svyatogorsk, as well as 15 other settlements, have been liberated," Shoigu said.
According to him, Russian troops have established control over residential areas of Severodonetsk, they seek to occupy the industrial zone and the nearest settlements.
"The offensive is developing in the Popasna direction. In general, 97 percent of the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic has been liberated to date," the head of the defense department said.
The Minister said that over the past 10 days, 51 units of military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, received from abroad, were destroyed in Ukraine. Including 12 armored vehicles, 21 155-millimeter howitzers, two MLRS and 16 unmanned aerial vehicles.
"In five days, 126 servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine surrendered, their total number is 6489 people," Shoigu said.
He added that mine clearance work is continuing. In total, "about three thousand hectares were checked, almost fifteen thousand explosive objects were neutralized."
"The territory of the Azovstal plant, including its underground structures, has been completely cleared of mines," the minister said.
"Establishing a peaceful life"
Shoigu also stressed that the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant is operating normally.
"The Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, the largest in Europe, is operating normally, which is capable of generating up to half of all the nuclear generation capacities of Ukraine," he said.
The Minister added that "the uninterrupted operation of thirty-three coal mines, two oil and fourteen gas fields that have come under the control of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics continues." According to his information, 57 percent of the capacities of the metallurgical industry of Ukraine are concentrated in the occupied territories.
He noted that when the APU retreats, "they seek to cause maximum damage to these sectors of the economy." And when the Russian military manages to take industrial facilities under control, they take them under protection, "thereby preserving the potential for the development of the region's economy."
"The demining of the Mariupol seaport has been completed. It is functioning normally and has received the first cargo ships," Shoigu said.
According to him, in the occupied territories of Donbass, "measures to establish peaceful life are continuing." For example, in Mariupol, "water and electricity supply to residential quarters is being gradually restored, streets are being cleared, and the first social facilities have begun to function."
"The Berdyansk seaport has also started working. On behalf of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, we are ready to load grain in these ports (Berdyansk and Mariupol - "Gazeta.Ru")," the Defense Minister added.
According to Shoigu, the Ministry of Defense, together with Russian Railways, restored 1,200 kilometers of railway lines to resume full-fledged traffic between Russia, Donbass and Ukraine with Crimea on six railway sections.
"We have started delivering cargo to Mariupol, Berdyansk and Kherson. A car connection has been opened from the territory of Russia along the mainland to the Crimea. The unhindered supply of water through the North Crimean Canal to the Crimean Peninsula has been resumed," the minister said.
He stressed that the restoration of transport infrastructure and water supply "creates favorable conditions for the development of the agro-industrial complex." The head of the defense department clarified that "its potential averages 10 million tons of grain crops per year, and for vegetable crops - 1.4 million tons." He also noted that more than twenty-seven thousand tons of cargo were handed over to civilians. Among them are food, basic necessities and medicines. The head of the Ministry of Defense concluded that the department will continue to "restore social facilities and establish peaceful life in the controlled territories."
"Deliberate arson"
Earlier, the official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, said at a briefing that the testimonies of local residents and monks in Svyatogorsk "confirm the fact of deliberate arson on June 5" of the wooden hermitage of All Saints of the Russian Land by the Ukrainian military.
According to him, they used the buildings of the Lavra as a "shield", "knowing that Russian servicemen do not fire at temple buildings and cultural monuments."
Local residents said that, retreating, the Ukrainian military set fire to the wooden hermitage of All Saints of the Russian Land "from a large-caliber machine gun mounted on an armored car with a burst of incendiary ammunition."
Maria Shustrova
