Artillerymen of the People's Militia of the Lugansk People's Republic firing at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from a 122-mm D-30 howitzer in the Luhansk region. Archival photoMOSCOW, April 21 The Russian Armed Forces and the People's Militia of the LPR took full control of the city of Kremennaya, which the nationalists turned into a fortified area, managed to avoid serious destruction of urban infrastructure and residential buildings, an official said at a briefing Russian Ministry of Defense Major General Igor Konashenkov. Kremennaya is a strategically important city in the war zone in Donbass. Control over Kremennaya will allow you to enter the city of Rubizhnoye, which is still being fought over, from the rear positions of the enemy.The city of Rubizhne in the LPR came under the complete control of the Russian troops»Units of the Russian Armed Forces and the People's Militia of the Luhansk Republic took full control of the settlement of Kremennaya, which was turned by Ukrainian nationalists into a fortified area. As a result of the swift and coordinated actions of the assault squads, serious destruction of urban infrastructure and residential buildings,» he said. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.» According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as of March 25, the main tasks of the first stage were completed — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. On April 19, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the start of the next phase of the special operation. At present, the strategically important regional center of Volnovakha, south of Donetsk, has been liberated in the DPR, and the final battles are underway for control of Mariupol, the largest city on the coast of the Sea of Azov. In the LPR, according to a statement by the RF Ministry of Defense dated March 25, since the beginning of the special operation, 93% of the territory of the former Lugansk region, within whose borders a republic was proclaimed, has been liberated. jpg» /> A resident of the LPR told how the national battalions shelled the village with phosphorus shells
