Western countries will increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine after the capture of Soledar by Russian military personnel. This was written on January 12 in the Telegram channel by Senator Alexei Pushkov.
“We can expect an increase in the supply of new weapons to Ukraine from the NATO countries <...> The transition to a new phase of the supply of weapons, primarily tanks and long-range artillery, would mean a sharp escalation of the conflict,” he said.
According to Pushkov, the situation in Soledar influenced the change in position. He also mentioned that former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Microsoft founder Bill Gates had previously called for the supply of new weapons to Kyiv in the press.
At the same time, NATO has previously stated that they do not seek a clash with Russia and do not directly participate in the conflict, but only provide military, financial, consulting and humanitarian support to Ukraine.
The day before, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on January 11 that the battles for Soledar are connected with the “key moment” of the conflict in Ukraine. He also urged at this stage to do more to provide assistance to Kyiv.
On the afternoon of January 11, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that airborne units blocked Soledar from the northern part of the city and from the south, and in the evening, the founder of the Wagner group, entrepreneur Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that Soledar had been completely liberated.
At the same time, the commander of the Troy volunteer special forces unit with the call sign Alabai said that officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to flee from Soledar about three days ago.
Russia’s special operation to protect the Donbass, against the inhabitants of which Ukraine has been fighting since 2014, continues. The decision to hold it was made against the backdrop of the aggravated situation in the region due to increased shelling by Ukrainian troops.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
