FACTBOX: What is known about the fight for Soledar

According to Acting Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin, downtown Soledar is already under the control of Russian forces

Soledar
©AP Photo/Roman Chop

Russian Airborne Troops blocked the city of Soledar from the north and south, with fighting going on inside the city itself, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters Wednesday.

According to Acting Head of the Donetsk People’s Republic Denis Pushilin, downtown Soledar is already under the control of Russian forces. Earlier on Tuesday, businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that fighters from the Wagner PMC control the entire Soledar territory.

Prigozhin left salt in Soledar: "so that America does not think that we are fighting for it"

TASS Media has collected the latest reports about the fight for the city.

What is going on in Soledar

• On Tuesday, Pushilin claimed that Soledar’s city center had been taken under control by Russian forces, who were already conducting a mop-up operation in the Western part of the city.



• Later, Prigozhin claimed that the Wagner PMC controls the entire city, with a cauldron (pocket) in the city center. He promised to provide the number of captured Ukrainian servicemen later.



• According to Apti Alaudinov, commander of the ‘Akhmat’ special forces unit and deputy commander of the LPR People’s Militia 2nd Army Corps, it will be possible to talk about the total liberation of Soledar by late Wednesday or on Thursday at the latest. The remaining Ukrainian forces in the city "will not be able to change anything anymore," he said.








• Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov urged reporters to wait for official statements on Soledar, but noted the "positive dynamic" of the special military operation.

Situation around Soledar

• Currently, Russian forces are fighting for Artyomovsk, or Bakhmut, located south of Soledar. According to Alaudinov, fighters from the Wagner PMC "took ‘all logistics routes’ in this city under control."



• On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the liberation of the nearby settlement of Podgorodnoye.

What’s next

• According to Pushilin, the liberation of Soledar will increase Russian forces’ ability to take control of Artyomovsk and Seversk, which will open the path towards Slavyansk and Kramatorsk



• the largest Donbass cities currently under Kiev’s control.



• He noted that Russian forces are destroying Ukrainian defensive lines, adding that a "breaking point for liberation of the entire Donetsk People’s Republic is being prepared."








• Pushilin’s advisor, military expert Yan Gagin called Soledar a "key to the liberation of Donbass" in an interview for TASS, adding that control over the city is a strategic victory for Russian forces. According to Gagin, about 500 Ukrainian servicemen, who could possibly have been "left there unintentionally," may remain in the city.

One tank company for Ukraine not to break situation on battlefield — official

The shipment of a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine from Poland will not fundamentally break the situation at the contact line, this is merely a virtual success by Kiev, says Alexander Malkevich, member of the Russian Civic Chamber and head of the Department of Journalism and Media Communication at the Kherson State University.

According to Malkevich, the promise to ship the tanks has become a "so necessary, vital ‘victory’ for Kiev now that Soledar is lost. However, he believes that this is merely a virtual victory for Ukrainian authorities.

"Yes, these are heavy armored vehicles. But, first, a company of tanks will not change the situation significantly. Second, one must first understand who will use them and where, and if they are not going to be late with all this at all," Malkevich told TASS.

Meanwhile, Adrien Bocquet, an invited expert on NATO weapons at the DPR mission to the Joint Coordination and Control Center (JCCC) on Ukrainian war crimes, not that using tanks amid the Donbass winter will require serious efforts and will be costly.

"The weight is wrong; they will have problems because of that. The engine requires special liquids for cold weather, special spark plugs in order to run. A very big number of parts must be replaced so that the tanks do not break because of cold. It will be very costly," Bocquet said.

Meanwhile, Adrien Bocquet, an invited expert on NATO weapons at the DPR mission to the Joint Coordination and Control Center (JCCC) on Ukrainian war crimes, not that using tanks amid the Donbass winter will require serious efforts and will be costly.

"The weight is wrong; they will have problems because of that. The engine requires special liquids for cold weather, special spark plugs in order to run. A very big number of parts must be replaced so that the tanks do not break because of cold. It will be very costly," Bocquet said.

Malkevich also pointed out that the Leopards are analogs of Soviet T-72 and T-80 tanks, but it is unclear how Ukraine will pay for them.

"What will they provide in exchange? Is it a preparation for gradual surrender of Western Ukraine, after all? There is a feeling that the next step will be the appearance of a Polish ‘peacekeeping contingent’ in Lvov ‘for protection of strategically important facilities’," he added.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said during a press conference in Lvov that Western states should hand over more tanks to Ukraine. Later, his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda announced the plan to ship a company of German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine as a part of the international support.

Special operation, January 11th. The main thing:

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that on January 11, Shoigu made new appointments to lead the special operation. Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov was appointed commander of the Joint Group of Forces, General Surovikin, Commander-in-Chief of the Ground Forces General Salyukov and Deputy Chief of the General Staff Colonel-General Kim became his deputies.

▪️ Prigozhin announced the complete release of Soledar. According to him, civilians were withdrawn, 500 Ukrainian soldiers who did not want to surrender were killed.

▪️ Pushilin, against the backdrop of military successes, announced a turning point in the liberation of the territory of the DPR.

▪️ The Russian Armed Forces hit the command and observation post of the Ukrainian battalion in Artemovsk, the Ministry of Defense reported.

▪️ Moskalkova said that she met with the Ombudsman of Ukraine Lubinets, they discussed the exchange of wounded prisoners of war and the provision of humanitarian assistance.

▪️ Foreign Policy reported that Turkey has been supplying Ukraine with US-style cluster munitions since November 2022, a RIA Novosti source in the Erdogan administration said that this is misinformation that undermines peace efforts.

The President of the Philippines has been ignoring Zelensky's attempts to contact him since June, Chargé d'Affaires of the Ukrainian Embassy in the country said.

▪️ Poland, within the framework of the international coalition, will transfer a company of Leopard tanks to Ukraine, Duda said.

▪️ The British government has confirmed that London plans to transfer tanks to Kyiv.

▪️ Stoltenberg announced the importance of strengthening NATO military assistance to Ukraine against the backdrop of the events near Artemivsk and Soledar.

▪️ The head of the IAEA said that the conclusion of an agreement on the Zaporozhye NPP is not impossible, since a nuclear incident is not in the interests of either the Russian Federation or Ukraine.