View of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Archival photoMOSCOW, 24 Apr. Bulgaria is torn apart by internal contradictions on the issue of arms supplies to Ukraine, Bloomberg claims. Sofia, despite the active calls in Europe to supply heavy weapons to Ukraine, has so far avoided such a step. Bloomberg explains this situation with the political situation in the country. The pro-Russian Bulgarian Socialist Party has threatened to withdraw from the ruling coalition if it supplies weapons to Ukraine, while the centre-right Democratic Bulgaria Party has said it will leave the coalition if supplies fail. Canada's defense ministry said earlier that the country had donated heavy artillery and howitzers to Ukraine. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that as part of military assistance to Ukraine, the country's Navy ship set off on Thursday towards Poland with 200 tons of ammunition and military equipment, as well as vehicles. Also on Thursday, U.S. President Joe Biden announced a new $800 million military aid package for Ukraine, including 72 tractor-mounted howitzers with 144,000 projectiles, and more than 121 Phoenix Ghost tactical unmanned aerial systems that the Pentagon deemed suitable «for Donbas».
The Americans criticized the supply of weapons to UkraineIn April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the DPR and LPR, which declared independence after the coup in Kyiv in February 2014. The issue of resolving the situation in Donbass has been discussed for 8 years, including during the meetings of the contact group in Minsk. However, even after the armistice agreements, skirmishes continued, and the DPR reported shelling of residential areas by Ukrainian heavy artillery.
Subsequently, Russia recognized the independence of the DPR and LPR, and on February 24 launched a special military operation in Ukraine. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass. On April 19, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced the start of the next phase of the special operation.