Russia: The Ukrainian army is trying to delay the advance of our forces and is using civilians as human shields

“The Ukrainian armed forces, which are trying to delay the advance of Russian forces, do not allow local residents to leave cities and towns, and use them as human shields,” Shoigu said during a meeting of the leadership council of the Russian Defense Ministry today.

The Russian Defense Minister added that the attempts of the Ukrainian authorities to seize the island of “Zmeni” (the serpent) on the eve of Victory Day on the ninth of this May failed, as the Russian army eliminated more than 50 soldiers from the elite units of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and destroyed 4 fighters and 10 helicopters. And 30 drones and three boats in three days.”

The Russian minister stressed that the Russian army, along with units of the People’s Forces from Luhansk and Donetsk, continues to expand control over the territory of “Donbass”.

In another context, the Russian shipbuilding company “USC” announced that the only aircraft carrier in the Russian Navy, the Admiral “Kuznetsov”, docked at Plant No. 35 in the city of “Severomorsk” for repairs and modernization.

The company added – in a statement today, Friday, to the Russian (Sputnik) news agency – “The process of docking the only aircraft carrier in the Russian Navy, Admiral (Kuznetsov) at the plant, has been successfully completed and undergoes comprehensive maintenance.”

And she continued, “This operation was scheduled to be carried out on May 14 and 15, but due to strong winds, we decided to postpone it until the weather is more favorable,” explaining that the maintenance will include all four units of the gas turbines.

She indicated that the maintenance process will take about 11 months of work, as the ship will be delivered to the Russian fleet in 2023 in the absence of other reasons to disrupt this delivery process.