In the east, the city of Bakhmout has been under heavy shelling for several days and the Ukrainians are preparing for the final assault. Only the military are now allowed to enter, each building has turned into a fortress. Bakhmout remains a major objective for Moscow, which is seeking a victory after several months of setbacks.
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For the Secretary General of NATO, Bakhmout is above all a sign that the dreaded offensive has, in reality, already begun. As if Russia had decided to speed things up to keep the advantage before the arrival of the heavy weapons promised to kyiv by the West.
kyiv prepares for a full-scale offensive from Moscow, as the anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches
The town of Bakhmout came under intense artillery fire from Russian forces on Monday in what appears to be the prelude to a major new offensive. pic.twitter.com/pB6RGB26aa— Ecrins ♀️ (@Ecrins6) February 14, 2023
“We see absolutely no sign that President Putin is preparing for peace.”says Jens Stoltenberg with a certain sense of understatement, before a meeting of the Ministers of Defense of the member countries of NATO. And to specify: “What we see is that President Putin and Russia still want to control Ukraine. We see how they send more troops, more weapons, more capabilities”.
The French called to leave Belarus
Other warning indicators have gone up a notch: this Monday, February 13, the United States again asked its nationals present in Russia to leave the country without delay, as they had already done in September in time of mobilization. The embassy warned them against the risks of arbitrary detention and sentencing.
[ FRANCE | GUERRE EN UKRAINE ]
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on French nationals in Belarus to leave the country without delay. pic.twitter.com/cg0BfpOfP8
— (Little) Think Tank (@L_ThinkTank) February 13, 2023
For its part, Paris has renewed its instructions for French people residing in Belarus. As the airspace is closed, it is by road that you have to leave via the few border crossing points with Lithuania, Poland or Latvia. Minsk has already opened its territory to allow Russia to launch the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. In October, moreover, the two countries announced the creation of a joint military force. Belarus could again this time put itself at the service of its ally. As a precaution, Poland decided last week to close an important crossing point on its border.
Risk of destabilization of Moldova
Moldova, this very small country of 2.6 million inhabitants located on the borders of Europe, acts as a buffer between Romania and Ukraine and has long been in Moscow’s sphere of influence. Part of its territory, Transnistria, has also seceded and 1,000 Russian soldiers are stationed there.
But since December 2020, it is the pro-European clan that has been in power.
Hostage-taking, attacks on institutions by soldiers camouflaged as civilians, the Moldovan president warns against a threat of a Russian coup.
And the scenario she describes resembles a Donbas 2014 bis. pic.twitter.com/JbAuVIoWak
— Office Wolf (@OfficeLoup) February 13, 2023
Today, the president, Maia Sandu, feels threatened. In front of the press, Monday, February 13, she publicly explained that a coup d’etat was being prepared to overthrow her government and replace it with a pro-Russian regime. Attacks on official buildings, hostage taking, destabilization actions… She confirmed all the information from the Ukrainian intelligence services. Since June, his country has been – like Ukraine – a candidate for entry into the European Union, it has become a target of choice. And it is also through Moldova that the conflict could spread.