It has been verified by the Ukrainian military Agency France-Presse (AFP) that Ukraine retreated from the city of Soledar, which was a significant site of resistance in the struggle for Donbass. As of the evening of the 12th of January, the Russian Ministry of Defense stated that they had achieved complete control of the village.
According to Sergey Cherevaty, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military, “after months of severe battle, particularly over the previous weeks, the Armed Services of Ukraine abandoned [Soledar] and withdrew around the periphery to pre-prepared positions.” This information was provided to the news source.
As Russian forces advanced and surrounded Ukrainian soldiers who were positioned in the urban areas, the city of Soledar became the focal point of intense combat in the first part of the month of January. The Ukrainian administration has dismissed accusations that Russia is making territorial gains. On January 17th, Cherevaty made the assertion that Kiev’s forces were “constantly fighting off the enemy.”
Earlier, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense issued a warning to the press, advising them not to cover the battle for Soledar. According to statements made by the Deputy Minister Of defense Anna Malyar, “only authorized personnel may broadcast information regarding the movements and whereabouts of our forces.” This is because commanding officers are the only people who have complete knowledge.
It appears that the official’s words, which she posted to social media on January 15th, were her response to comments about the impending loss of the Ukrainian military in the town of Donbass.
During the same week, a critical article on the conflicts in Ukraine’s Soledar region was published in the British journal The Times. According to survivors of the battle who were interviewed by the news site, Kiev’s forces were insufficiently armed and undertrained, which led to their defeat at the hands of their adversaries.
It has been reported that certain Western nations that support Kiev are concerned about the large number of deaths sustained by its soldiers while holding the town of Artyomovsk (also spelled Bakhmut in Ukraine), which is located immediately to the southwest of Soledar. According to a story from Der Spiegel a week ago, Germany’s Federal Intel Agency (BND) reported triple digits each day in the number of deaths.
According to an assessment made by John Kirby, spokesperson for the United States National Security Council, the fall of Artyomovsk would not “strategically impact the dynamics of the battlefield.” According to reports, Washington instructed Ukraine to quit holding to the city and instead concentrate on planning a counteroffensive in the interim while waiting for the arrival of new weaponry from NATO members.
Soledar is considered to be a part of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), despite the fact that it had been under the control of Ukrainian forces since 2014, once the DPR broke away from Ukraine after a coup there. Following a referendum that was held in September, the country officially joined the Russian Federation.