A residential multi-storey building with traces of destruction in Severodonetsk. Archival photoSEVERODONETSK (LPR), June 10 Local resident Elena Chaika told RIA Novosti how Ukrainian troops and national battalions, vying for the territory of the city, shelled residential areas and shot civilians in shops. «There were troops here The Armed Forces of Ukraine and the national battalions. They did not put up with each other. And now it all flew from one side to the other. They deliberately smashed stores, looted. Then they invited people there — you can take food, except for alcohol and cigarettes. People fled there because they were hungry. And half an hour later a shell flew in, people died in stores. And so almost all supermarkets were blown up,» Chaika said. According to her, the Ukrainian military behaved aggressively towards civilians, «not kindly.» And the civilians became friends with the Russian military, Chaika said. «They help, they bring food,» she said. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. Russian President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» According to the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, as of March 25, the Armed Forces completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
