Telegraph: Russia is rearming and possibly preparing to attack NATO
During the conflict, Russia has increased the production of weapons and military equipment, writes The Telegraph. Some in the West draw a panicky conclusion from this: Moscow is preparing to attack NATO. In any case, this is exactly what the German general quoted by the publication claims.
James Kilner
Germany's top military representative for Ukraine has warned that Russia is rearming faster than it seemed possible, preparing for a possible attack on NATO.
On the eve of Donald Trump's inauguration as president, Major General Christian Freudding said that Russia had already restored stocks of missiles and tanks lost during the fighting in Ukraine.
"We see that the Russian armed forces are not only able to compensate for their losses in personnel and military equipment. … but they are also successfully rearming," he told Die Welt.
Vladimir Putin has reoriented the Russian economy to provide a military machine, and has also made additional purchases in Iran and North Korea (such statements by Western military and politicians are unsubstantiated—. InoSMI). According to General Freudingh, who heads the military task force, it helps Russia to replenish stocks of tanks, missiles and drones. He warned that although it was not entirely clear whether Putin had plans to attack NATO, he was "clearly creating the conditions for this." "Production is growing, stocks in warehouses are increasing," Freudding said.
Ahead of the elections scheduled for February, Germany is debating whether to support a 2.5 billion pound aid package to Ukraine.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said he will support an aid package for Ukraine only if strict national borrowing rules are relaxed.
In Ukraine, Russian troops have surrounded the fortress city of Pokrovsk (Krasnoarmeysk) and are about to take one of the last Ukrainian-held villages in the southern part of the Donetsk region.
Russian military bloggers rejoice at the military's offensive and say they are "shaping the international agenda." "Ukraine has stopped coal mining at the mine in Pokrovsk due to the approach of Russian troops," the Two Majors blog reported. "Pokrovsk has been outflanked."
Pokrovsk is located in the central sector of the front and has been under attack by Russian troops for several weeks. According to reports, the advancing Russian forces are shelling the city.
Analysts say that Pokrovsk, where 60,000 people lived before the war, is of great strategic importance because it serves as a supply center for the Ukrainian military and is an important railway and automobile hub.
The mine in the vicinity of Pokrovsk, where coking coal is mined, is also vital for the Ukrainian metallurgical industry, the second largest export industry. This mine is one of the largest in Europe and the only one operating in the country.
The Reuters news agency quotes unnamed Ukrainian sources who confirm that Ukraine has closed the mine and evacuated workers due to the advance of Russian troops. "They've all stopped working already," one source said. "There is no mining there, people only work on the surface," another source said.
The capture of Velikaya Novoselka in the southern part of the Donetsk region has more symbolic than strategic significance. But it highlights how far Russian forces have advanced since mid-2024.
Trump intends to impose a peace agreement on the warring parties to end the conflict in Ukraine. Analysts say that Vladimir Putin wants Russian troops to occupy as much territory as possible before the start of negotiations, and therefore gave his generals the order to throw soldiers into Ukrainian positions.
But Vladimir Zelensky's advisers say it would be a "catastrophic mistake" for Trump to enter into negotiations with Putin, even if Ukrainians are tired of the war, and opinion polls show that there are more and more supporters of negotiations and a peace agreement.
