Denis Pushilin announced on Russian television on Monday that this city in eastern Ukraine is destroyed. Its capture by the Russians marks a step towards the encirclement of Bakhmout.
The chairman of the executive of the self-proclaimed Republic of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, displayed himself in Soledar, a city which Moscow claimed to have captured more than a week ago, and which kyiv has so far not acknowledged the loss.
The separatists also announced on Monday January 23 the capture of two villages, Krasnopolivka and Dvouretchié, located near Soledar. Speaking on Russian television on Monday, the day after his trip to Soledar, Denis Pouchiline confirmed that “the city is destroyed» and that there remained «almost no more entire buildings“.
fierce battle
According to the Russian army, the conquest of this city is a step to encircle Bakhmout, which Moscow has been trying to conquer since the summer and where the two sides are engaged in a fierce battle.
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According to Denis Pushilin, the fighting there “intensify», and the Russian troops «advance“. He claimed that units of the paramilitary group Wagner now controlled strategic heights nearby. “The situation remains quite difficult, but our units are advancing almost everywhere“, he further indicated, noting a “mass transferof Ukrainian troops in the direction of Bakhmout.
Sunday evening, Denis Pouchiline had broadcast a video showing him, according to him in Soledar, in the middle of buildings with blackened facades and blown windows.
“It was necessary to understand whether there was a need to deploy humanitarian aid points there“, he said there. According to him, “there are very few inhabitants leftin this city of some 11,000 souls before the war, located north of Bakhmout.
Ukraine did not recognize the loss of Soledar
The capture of Soledar had been announced on January 13 by the Russian army, which, unusually, recognized the determining role of Wagner’s mercenaries in this battle. The leader of the paramilitary group, Evguéni Prigojine, had already appeared alongside his men in a video, shot according to him inside the famous salt mines of the city.
Ukraine has so far not officially acknowledged the loss of Soledar, saying it continues to fight in its western part. Monday, January 23 again, the regional administration came under the “active hostilities near Bakhmout and Soledar“, without detailing.
“Wagner’s men who accompanied us on the trip told us how bloody the battles were here“, said Denis Pouchiline again.
SEE ALSO – War in Ukraine: Russia claims to have taken control of Soledar after fierce battle