The Ministry of Defense confirmed taking control of Soledar

On the eve of the capture of Soledar, the founder of the Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, spoke about the capture of Soledar. He posted a photo of a tank from the Soledar dungeon. The Defense Ministry then said that the city was blocked from the north and south. The complete taking of the city under control has not been confirmed."On the evening of January 12, the liberation of the city of Soledar was completed, which is important for the continuation of successful offensive operations in the Donetsk direction," said Igor Konashenkov, an official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry.

Taking control of the city makes it possible to cut off the supply of Ukrainian troops in the city of Bakhmut, he added.

Bakhmut will be blocked, and the AFU units will be taken into the cauldron.According to Igor Konashenkov, the capture of the city became possible thanks to continuous air strikes, missile troops and artillery.

Over the past three days, over 700 Ukrainian soldiers and about 300 pieces of military equipment have been destroyed in Soledar. Heavy fighting has continued for these two cities over the past weeks.

Earlier, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Krajin military suffered significant losses in the battles near Bakhmut. The commanders do not rule out that Ukrainian troops will be forced to leave this city and occupy a new defensive line to the west of it.