Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu ordered generals to prioritise destroying Ukraine’s long-range missile and artillery weapons after Western-supplied weapons were used to strike Russian supply lines.
Nearly five months since President Vladimir Putin ordered the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces are grinding through the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine and now control around a fifth of the country.
Shoigu, one of Putin’s closest allies, inspected the Vostok group which is fighting in Ukraine, the defense ministry said.
Shoigu “instructed the commander to give priority to the enemy’s long-range missile and artillery weapons,” the defense ministry said.
The ministry said the weapons were being used to shell residential areas of Russian-controlled Donbass and to deliberately set fire to wheat fields and grain storage silos. Reuters was unable to verify battlefield reports from either side….