Moscow. July 16. INTERFAX - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspected the groups of troops "South" and "Center" participating in the special military operation (SVO) in Ukraine and instructed to step up actions in all operational areas, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Saturday.
"At the command post, Army General Sergei Shoigu heard reports from the commander of the South group, Army General Sergei Surovikin, the commander of the Center group, Colonel General Alexander Lapin, and other commanders and commanders on the current situation, the nature of enemy actions and the progress of the Russian Armed Forces' combat missions," the statement said.
"At the end of the hearing, the head of the Russian military department gave the necessary instructions to further increase the actions of groups in all operational areas in order to exclude the possibility of the Kiev regime to inflict massive missile and artillery strikes on civilian infrastructure and residents of settlements in Donbass and other regions," the Russian Defense Ministry noted.
According to the department, Shoigu inspected the Russian groups of troops "South" and "Center", performing the tasks of their own in Ukraine.
"In pursuance of the decree of the President of Russia, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Army General Sergei Shoigu, presented the Gold Star medals of the Hero of the Russian Federation to Colonel General Alexander Lapin and Major General Esedulla Abachev for their courage and heroism," the Russian Defense Ministry informed.
The previous time the agency reported on June 26 that Shoigu came with an inspection to the Russian group involved in the SVO in Ukraine.
On July 2, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the chief of the Russian General Staff, Valery Gerasimov, had checked the Russian troops conducting their military operations in Ukraine.
On June 24, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the names of the commanders of Russian troops in Ukraine. The southern group is led by the commander-in-chief of the Aerospace Forces, Sergei Surovikin, and the Center group is led by the commander of the troops of the Central Military District, Alexander Lapin, it followed from the department's message.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree recognizing the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR). On February 24, Putin announced the start of his military operation in Ukraine. In response, many countries have imposed sanctions against Russia. A number of countries supply Ukraine with weapons and equipment.
On April 25, the head of the National Defense Control Center of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Mizintsev, said that the Russian army had taken control of the entire Kherson region, parts of the Kharkiv, Zaporozhye, Mykolaiv regions of Ukraine, a significant part of the territory of the DPR and LPR recognized by Russia.
On July 4, Shoigu informed the head of state about the completion of the operation to take control of the territory of the LPR.
"The units that took part in active hostilities and achieved success, victories in the Luhansk direction, of course, should rest, increase their combat capabilities," Putin said at a meeting with Shoigu.
