Russia raised the level of leadership of its forces in Ukraine, assigning the chief of staff to the position of commander and appointing 3 deputies to him from the highest generals, at a time when fighting intensified in the east of the country, where the Russian army said that its forces besieged the Ukrainian city of Solidar.

Today, Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu issued an order appointing Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov as commander of the "group of Russian forces operating in the area of ​​the special military operation in Ukraine."

The ministry stated that the current commander of the Russian forces in Ukraine, General Sergey Surovikin - who was appointed last October - became, according to the decision, the deputy commander of the new commander.

Surovikin is also the commander of the Air Force.

The Minister of Defense also ordered the appointment of the commander of the ground forces, Oleg Salikhov, and Alexei Kim, deputy chief of staff, as deputy commanders of the Russian forces in Ukraine.

The statement indicated that these new appointments and the decision to raise the level of leadership in Ukraine are related to increasing the volume of tasks, improving the quality of all forms of support, and the efficiency of managing forces.

Putin pledges

Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that his country continues to enhance its defense capabilities and meet the needs of the armed forces.

"We will certainly solve all problems related to providing for the needs of the armed forces and units participating in the special military operation," Putin said while chairing the first meeting of the Russian government in the new year.

The Russian President indicated that the situation is difficult in some areas within the provinces that Russia annexed to its lands.

Putin also spoke about the implementation of social and economic plans, saying, "It is necessary to achieve solutions in the near future to issues of independent sovereign development, as all the necessary resources are available, despite external pressures and threats."


Solidar Battle

On the ground, the Russian army said that its forces are besieging the city of Solidar in eastern Ukraine, while Kyiv said that the battles are still continuing in the city.

And Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the "Wagner" security company, whose members are fighting alongside the Russian army, announced that his forces had taken control of the entire city of Solidar.

Prigozhin said in his account on Telegram that Wagner units have taken control of the entire territory of Solidar, and that fighting is still going on in the city center with some besieged Ukrainian forces.

And Russian media published a picture that it said was of Prigozhin, accompanied by fighters, inside one of the mine tunnels in the city of Solidar.

For its part, RIA Novosti reported that the photo belongs to a salt mine.

Wagner forces also published footage that they said were of their fighters in front of the Solidar administration building in the city center.

A military spokesman confirmed in the video that his forces are carrying out their tasks successfully, and are deployed around the administration building in the city center, and that the forces are combing the Solidar neighborhoods.

And the pro-Russian Donetsk authorities said that Wagner's forces had begun combing the strategic city after taking full control of it, and added that about 500 Ukrainian soldiers were still trapped inside the city of Solidar.

As for the Russian Ministry of Defense, it confirmed that the battles between the Ukrainian and Russian forces are still continuing in Solidar, and stated in a statement that "airborne units (airborne) disrupted access to the northern and southern parts of Solidar."


The Kremlin warns against haste

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called for not rushing to declare victory in Solidar.

Peskov expressed his country's readiness to resolve the Ukrainian crisis through negotiations, but the positions of Ukraine and the West do not allow for talks at the present time, as he put it.

He added that Western countries, led by the United States, are ready to continue pumping weapons into Ukraine, but their stocks are running out.

On the other hand, Sergey Chervaty, spokesman for the Eastern Operations Command of the Ukrainian army, said that the battles are still going on in Solidar.

He stated, "The city of Solidar is not under the control of the Russian forces. There are fierce battles going on, and the enemy broadcasted media propaganda to rumor that it had completely taken control of the city, and spread that on its media machine. But that is not true."

"We are working hard to take the necessary decisions to restore balance in the battle lines, so that we can inflict the greatest losses on the enemy and limit our losses there," Chervati added.


Air defenses and tanks

In the context of military aid, the Ukrainian presidency announced that Lithuania had pledged to transfer air defense systems and anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine.

This came after a meeting held by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in the western city of Lviv, with the Presidents of Lithuania, Gitanas Nauseda, and the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda.

For his part, the Polish president said that his country will be among the countries that supply Ukraine with Leopard tanks, according to the Ukrainian Interfax agency.

In the same context, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that partnership with the European Union is more important than ever.

Stoltenberg stressed that there is a need to increase the level of military support for Ukraine, and at the same time welcomed the announcement by the United States and other countries to provide new weapons to Kiev.

meeting in Ankara

On the other hand, a meeting was held in the Turkish capital, Ankara, today, Wednesday, between the Russian Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatiana Moskalkova, and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubenez.

Reuters news agency quoted Moskalkova as saying after the meeting that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to exchange 40 prisoners of war.

Moskalkova also told the Russian news agency TASS that she had discussed the file of the missing Russian soldiers with the Commissioner for Human Rights of Ukraine.