TASHKENT, August 24. /TASS/. The Russian army deliberately slowed down its advance in the special military operation in Ukraine in order to reduce civilian casualties, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting of defense chiefs from Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) member states on Wednesday.
"We strictly comply with humanitarian law during the special operation. Attacks are carried out with high-precision weapons on the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ military infrastructure facilities, including command points, airfields, depots, fortified areas and defense industry sites. At the same time, every effort is being done to prevent civilian casualties. It certainly slows down the advance but we do it consciously," Shoigu pointed out.
According to him, Russian troops "are engaged in systematic work to restore peaceful life in the liberated areas." "We are providing humanitarian aid to locals, restoring infrastructure facilities and life support systems," the Russian defense minister noted.
Shoigu also said that "the Ukrainian armed forces employ scorched earth tactics, blatantly violating international law and acting like terrorists." "They establish firing positions in residential buildings, schools, hospitals and kindergartens, deploying tanks and artillery there and using civilians as human shields. They deliberately shell settlements and drop Lepestok anti-personnel landmines with a clear goal to cause as much damage as possible to civilians and civilian infrastructure facilities," the Russian defense chief stressed.