A military official acknowledges that there are problems with mobilizing forces

Reforms in the Russian army ... and Moscow accuses the West of waging a "proxy war"

A Leopard tank during joint military exercises between Poland, the United States, France and Sweden.

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The head of the Russian General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, said that the new Russian military reforms take into account the possible expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), noting that the West is using Kyiv to wage what he called a "proxy war against Russia."

In his first public comment since his appointment as commander of Russian forces in Ukraine on Jan. 11, Gerasimov acknowledged problems with mobilizing Russian forces, telling the Argumenti-e-Facti news website that the reforms had been approved by Russian President Vladimir Putin and could be modified to respond to threats to the country's security. Russia.

"Today, these threats include NATO's aspirations to expand into Finland and Sweden as well as the use of Ukraine as a tool to wage a proxy war against our country," he added.

Last year, Finland and Sweden applied to join NATO after the Russian war on Ukraine, and under Moscow's new military plan, a military corps will be added to Karelia in northern Russia on the border with Finland.

The reforms also call for two additional military districts, Moscow and Leningrad, which existed before they were merged in 2010 to form part of the Western Military District.

In Ukraine, Russia will add three motorized rifle divisions as part of combined arms formations in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions. "The main goal of this work is to ensure the protection of the sovereignty of our country and the territorial integrity of Russia," Gerasimov said.

He continued, "Modern Russia has not witnessed fighting with such ferocity. Our country and its armed forces are working today against the West as a whole."

On the other hand, Ukraine announced that it needs hundreds of combat tanks in order to regain the territories that Russia controlled.

Andriy Yermak, director of the Ukrainian presidential office, said: "Every tank that has the ability to fight must be on our front line today. Without Ukraine's victory, a return to the 1991 borders and Russia's punishment, there will be no stable development and no clear world order."

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that the issue of supplying combat aircraft to Ukraine had moved from a stalemate point, and that Ukraine had told its partners that this year it would need to obtain all kinds of weapons necessary to achieve victory.

For his part, the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Taiani, indicated that sending tanks to Ukraine is an issue that must be dealt with bilaterally by the concerned countries, stressing that there are no obligations on the part of Rome towards Kyiv in this regard.

Poland, in turn, confirmed its intention to submit, in the coming days, a request to the German government to approve the delivery of German-made Leopard combat tanks to Ukraine.

Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said Warsaw is counting on forming an alliance with other countries to deliver combat tanks to Kyiv, adding that submitting the order to Berlin would be an important gesture.

Poland is pressing the allies in this regard.

Two weeks ago, Polish President Andrzej Duda said that Warsaw had decided to deliver 14 Leopard combat tanks to Ukraine.

Inside Ukraine, a number of senior officials announced their resignations after the media revealed purchases of supplies for the army at inflated prices. Among the resigned officials were Deputy Defense Minister Vyacheslav Shapovalov, who was responsible for logistical support for the Ukrainian forces, Assistant Director of the Presidential Administration Kirillo Tymoshenko and Deputy Prosecutor. General Oleksiy Simonenko, the Ukrainian government also announced the dismissal of five regional governors and four assistant ministers, due to the army equipment crisis.

Yesterday, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced that Russia's war in Ukraine had affected the education of more than five million children.

The organization said the 11-month conflict had exacerbated major problems in Ukraine's education sector.

Fighting in residential areas has damaged thousands of schools and other educational facilities across Ukraine, and many parents are reluctant to send their children to school for safety reasons, according to the international organization.

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