The Russian Ministry of Defense announced that they had taken control of the city of Soledar from Ukraine, which is located in the Donetsk region. On the evening of January 12, according to the report from the ministry, the city was brought under control. The Ukrainian side has not officially confirmed that their side has lost control of the city, which has been the focus of fighting over the past few days.
Soledar, a city with a pre-war population of roughly 10,000 people, is vital for the continuation of successful offensive operations in the Donetsk direction, according to a communiqué issued by the Russian military. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the conquest of Soledar cuts off the supply lines of the Ukrainian Army in the southern city of Bakhmut (the Soviet name Artyomovsk was used in the message from the Ministry of Defense), where fighting has been going on for months.
During the fight, airborne units launched a clandestine manoeuvre from a different direction, efficiently attacked the enemy’s positions, occupied dominant heights, and ringed the city on the north and south sides, said the Russian Ministry of Defense. Operations using aviation and artillery are also mentioned. There is not the slightest hint in the transmission that Wagner PMC forces were involved in the conflict that was being described. Yevgeny Prigozhin, also the founder of this force, was quoted as saying that only Wagner fighters participated in the battle for Soledar. According to Prigozhin, the city was taken on January 11 this year.
Three Ukrainian brigades were utterly destroyed in the battle for Soledar
Various telegram channels, including those broadcasting on behalf of the Wagner group and Ramzan Kadyrov, indicated that the losses incurred by the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the fights for Soledar likely approached 25,000 fatalities.
According to a source at the scene, Wagner group detachments are currently sanitising Soledar and securing themselves within its borders. The remaining Ukrainian forces can conceal themselves in the ruins and salt mines.
According to the Wagner Group, 17 or 16 regular battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and other Ukrainian law enforcement organisations were annihilated during the fierce fighting for the city. In addition, three brigades were entirely defeated: the 46th airmobile, the 61st infantry (which had been relocated from Kherson), and the 10th mountain assault near the end of the battle. It appears that more than a dozen marching companies were wiped out here, and their soldiers replaced the fallen on the front line. The overall number of deaths in the Ukrainian Armed Forces may surpass 25,000, which is more than the size of five Ukrainian brigades.
