MOSCOW, May 21. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces used the settlement of Pletenevka in the Kharkov Region, before it was liberated by Russian troops for shelling the Belgorod Region, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

"Since the beginning of the special military operation, militants of nationalist Ukrainian units have repeatedly used the outskirts of this settlement to shell settlements in the Belgorod Region, such as Belgorod, Shebekino and others. Ukrainian servicemen were equipped with firing positions virtually in every residential house in Pletenevka," the ministry said.

The Defense Ministry also said that Ukrainian forces are now trying to destroy the settlement by occasionally shelling houses there with artillery.

"Here are some houses that they shot at with mortars. They fly their Baba Yaga drones all the time and burn things," said a Russian serviceman with the call sign Sokol, who participated in the liberation of Pletenevka.

He noted that "people can sleep in peace."

"Our boys are working well. No one is going back. Everyone fights with dignity," the serviceman said.

Every day, servicemen of the battlegroup North continue to advance deep into the territory occupied by the enemy. Servicemen also help the locals that stayed in their homes to evacuate to the Belgorod Region. There are rooms for them in temporary accommodation centers.

On May 11, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that soldiers of the battlegroup North had liberated the settlements of Borisovka, Ogurtsovo, Pletenevka, Pylnaya and Strelechya in the Kharkov Region.