The Russian military operation in Ukraine will continue until the tasks set by President Vladimir Putin are fully completed, Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said on Tuesday.
The priorities are the preservation of the lives and health of the Russian military and the exclusion of threats to civilians, Shoygu said at a meeting with military chiefs in Moscow.
"The Russian military is not going to stop after the complete liberation of the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic. The special military operation will continue until the tasks set by the supreme commander are fully completed," he said.
The West continues arms deliveries to Ukraine, which, according to Shoygu's assessment, is made "in order to protract the conflict."
The minister also noted that over 28 tons of military shipments have been delivered to the country since the war erupted on Feb. 24, while part of them went to the black market and was resold to the Middle East.
Meanwhile, the number of foreign mercenaries in Ukraine has been decreasing, some of them lost their lives in battles, and others left the country, Shoygu said.
"Only in the last 10 days 170 mercenaries were killed, 99 refused to participate in hostilities and left the Ukrainian territory," he noted.
The Russian military, apart from conducting military operations, takes part in humanitarian activities, providing support to the civilians "of the liberated cities," and ensuring peaceful life in the territories controlled by Russian troops, he said.
Besides, they sustain the safety of navigation in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, he added.
"We have created two humanitarian corridors for the movement of civilian ships in the Black (Sea) and the Sea of Azov. The mine danger in the water area of the port of Mariupol (in Ukraine) has been completely eliminated," Shoygu said.
Also, large-scale activities are being carried out in Ukraine's Luhansk and Donetsk regions to clear the mines. So far, over 3,700 hectares of land have been checked for mines, while more than 46,300 explosive devices found and defused, he said.
Nearly 4,900 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the war with Russia started on Feb. 24.
Over 15 million people have been forced to flee their homes, including more than 8.4 million that have fled to other countries, according to UN figures.
