This is a failure for Ukraine in the war against Russia. The Kyiv army admits on Wednesday that it has surrendered the city of Soledar in the east of the country. This announcement was made two weeks after it was taken over by Russia.
“After months of fierce fighting (…) the Ukrainian armed forces abandoned it” to “retreat to prepared positions,” Serhiy Cherevaty, military spokesman for the eastern zone, said. However, he declined to specify exactly when this retreat took place.
The Russian paramilitary group Wagner announced that it took Soledar on January 11, and on January 13 – the Russian army. near Bakhmut, another hotspot in eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainians have so far refused to acknowledge the loss of the city.
Possible step towards Bakhmut
Soledar’s strategic importance is disputed, with the American think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) stating that it is “not operationally significant”. The Russian army, on the other hand, presents the capture of Soledar as a key step towards the encirclement of the neighboring city of Bakhmut, which it has been trying to capture since the summer and where both sides are suffering heavy losses.
Soledar’s retreat was “controlled, there was no encirclement or mass capture of our soldiers,” for his part, Serhiy Cherevaty assured, who denied any “leakage” of Ukrainian soldiers. Before the retreat, the Ukrainian troops “inflicted incredible losses on the Russians,” he further assured, stressing that the Ukrainian strategy in this direction is to “wear down the enemy.”
A Russian occupation official in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday claimed responsibility for the Russian offensive in Bakhmut, citing the capture of Soledar as a determining factor. However, according to Sergei Cherevaty, these statements “do not correspond to reality.” “The fighting continues. The situation is difficult, but under control.
Source: Le Parisien
