Taking control of the city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine will allow the Russian army to develop an offensive, said Russia Tuesday.

“The liberation of Artyomovsk (Bakhmut) continues. This city is an important hub for the defense of Ukrainian troops in Donbas. Taking it under control will allow further offensive actions to be carried out deep into the defense of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said at a meeting with military chiefs in Moscow.

He stressed that the Western countries are increasing deliveries of arms and military equipment to Ukraine and expanding training of Ukrainian troops.

“At the same time, the support to the Kyiv regime by NATO countries does not lead to the success of Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. On the contrary, there is a significant increase in losses among the personnel of the armed forces,” he claimed.

Shoygu accused the Ukrainian authorities of “indifference” to its own people, saying they “ignore huge human losses to please Western masters.”

Bakhmut is a large transport hub through which Ukrainian troops in Donbas are supplied with weapons, military equipment and ammunition. The city has almost been captured by Russian private military company Wagner, its head Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed Friday.

Shoygu also said the Western countries, led by the US, are waging “absolutely unprincipled information war” against Russia.

“Our opponents actively and shamelessly promote the lie that it was they who made the main contribution to the defeat of fascism and the end of World War II. This and any attempts to falsify historical truth must be put to an end,” he said.

About the training of soldiers, Shoygu said Russian military educational institutions prepare specialists of 280 different professions, with most popular being military pilot, paratrooper, sailor, scout, and tank driver.

The gradual increase in the size of the armed forces suggests the training of more officers, he added.