KIEV (Reuters) Jan,13– Russian forces said on Friday they had captured the salt-mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine overnight after days of relentless fighting, marking Russia’s first on the battlefield in six months. I wanted great results.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the situation in the city. Earlier on Friday, Kyiv said fighting continued after what was described as a “hot” night.
The ultranationalist Wagner Mercenary Company, run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin, claimed to have captured Soledar on Wednesday, but so far the Russian Defense Ministry has remained silent.
“The night in Soleda was hot and the fighting continued,” Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maryal wrote on the messaging app Telegram. “The enemy has put almost all its main forces in the direction of Donetsk and is maintaining a heavy attack. .
Ukrainian officials said Thursday that more than 500 of her civilians, including 15 children, were trapped in Soledar.
In a late-night video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Soledar’s two units for “holding their positions and inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.” He gave no further details.
The Ukrainian front line has barely moved in the two months since Russia last withdrew south. Meanwhile, the battle between Bahmut and Soledar became what both sides called a “meat grinder”. This is a brutal war of attrition that has claimed the lives of thousands of soldiers needed for the critical battle to come.
The new year has brought a significant promise of ultra-Western weapons to Ukraine, which is searching for weapons to engage in mechanized warfare against Russian tanks. Last week, France, Germany and the United States pledged to send armored fighting vehicles.
In recent days, the focus has been on main battle tanks that the West has yet to deploy. On Friday, Finland joined Poland in pledging to send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of the Western coalition. This requires Berlin’s previously hesitant approval, but has recently shown its willingness to do so.
Putin, who launched the invasion on February 24, said Kyiv’s ties to the West threatened Russia’s security, and Russia has since annexed four Ukrainian provinces. and its allies have called it a one-sided war for territorial gain, with Kyiv saying it will fight until it regains all its land.
