Russia: Sergei Shoigu, Minister of Defense, speaks again

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on January 17, 2023. AP

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This Monday, February 6, Evgueni Prigojine has once again been talked about.

Wagner's boss showed himself aboard what he said was a Su-24 bomber returning from a bombing raid on Bakhmout, the epicenter of fighting in eastern Ukraine.

However, this Tuesday, February 7, it is indeed the Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, who spoke about the advances of the Russian army on the ground. 

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With our correspondent in Moscow,

Anissa El Jabri

Until now, the face of the daily reports on “

the progress of the special operation

” was that of the spokesman of the armies, Igor Konashenkov.

General Sergei Surovikin, he spoke widely when he led the fighting last fall and winter.

But this was a novelty in Russia. 

Change of atmosphere since the end of December 2022, with the gradual return of Sergei Shoigu, the Minister of Defense, on the media scene.

Already two visits to the field of the "special operation" which the press reported, at the end of December and mid-January, without anyone knowing where exactly.

The enemy suffers heavy losses

 ”

And in this period when the Russian army seems to have regained the initiative on the ground, it is also Sergei Shoigu who comments: " 

Following the offensive actions of our troops in the directions of Donetsk and Zaporijjia, the towns of Soledar, Kleshcheevka, Podgornoe, Krasnopolye, Blagodatnoe, Lobkove and Nikolaevka were released.

Currently, military operations are successfully developing in the Ugledar and Artemovsk regions.

Despite unprecedented military aid from Western countries, the enemy suffered heavy losses.

 »

Just before the first anniversary of what the Kremlin persists in calling a "special operation", the Russian army intensifies its assaults and insists on the losses of the camp opposite.

The last official report on the Russian side dates from September 21, 2022. 

For several months, the Russian Ministry of Defense has been stepping up its efforts to

reform the army

.

One of them, prohibiting the use of mobile phones and tablets, had aroused some mood swings.

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