Photo: archive, BGNES
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited the area of Russian military operations to inspect reconstruction work in Donbas, the Russian military said today, AFP and Reuters reported.
The announcement came after the Russian military had already said on Saturday that Shoigu had inspected a frontline “command post” in eastern Ukraine amid the raging battle for the town of Bakhmut, AFP noted.
“As part of a trip to the area of the special military operation,” Shoigu made inspections of already restored infrastructure sites as well as new constructions in Mariupol, said the announcement, which did not specify the date of the ministerial visit.
In the port city of Mariupol, which was besieged for several months before falling into Russian hands in early May 2022, the minister visited an emergency medical center and a new residential quarter of 12 buildings, the release said. The construction of schools was also reported to the minister.
According to the same source, Shoigu was also aware of the construction of an important water pipeline to connect the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine with Russia’s Rostov Oblast.
Shoigu’s visit comes as fierce fighting continues for control of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. The city is of limited strategic value, but has become a symbol as the warring parties have been fighting there for months.
At the end of December, Sergei Shoigu visited the “special military operation” zone in Ukraine twice.
(BTA, Petya Gergova)
