2023-01-13T11:40:00+02:00 Politics 2024-09-15T06:00:40+03:00

Ukrainian news

Russians Probably Captured Soledar. ISW Assessed Threat Of Encirclement Of Bakhmut

Russians Probably Captured Soledar. ISW Assessed Threat Of Encirclement Of Bakhmut

The Russian occupiers probably captured the city of Soledar. However, the capture of the entire city will not become an important event in the operational sense and is unlikely to lead to the inevitable encirclement of Bakhmut.

It is reported by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

According to military analysts, Ukrainian forces no longer maintain an organized defense in Soledar.

Russian troops probably drove Ukrainian forces from the western outskirts of the city.

Analysts noted that the General Staff of the Armed Forces of January 12, for the most part, did not report that Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks on Soledar compared to the reports on January 11.

Russian sources claimed that Russian forces were "clearing" Soledar.

Russian bloggers on January 12 posted footage of Wagner Group militants freely walking in Soledar, and said that they visited the settlement alongside Russian troops, experts write.

According to them, the statement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on January 12 that Ukrainian forces maintain positions in Soledar may mean deterring defensive positions nearby, but not in Soledar itself.

Russian information operations exaggerated the importance of Soledar, which is at best a "Pyrrhic tactical victory," experts say.

ISW still believes that the capture of Soledar will not allow Russian forces to establish control over critical Ukrainian ground communications, and will not improve the situation of Russian troops for the encirclement of the city of Bakhmut in the near future

Russian forces probably captured Soledar after sending significant resources for a tactical victory with great attrition, which will accelerate the likely culmination of the weakened Russian forces near Bakhmut, the ISW summarizes.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on January 12, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a regular meeting of the Supreme Commander's Headquarters, where special attention was paid to the battles in Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk Region.

On January 12, in Soledar, border guards with mortar fire inflicted losses on Russian mercenaries and forced them to retreat.

On January 11, the U.S. CNN channel reported, citing an unnamed representative of the Armed Forces, that the night from Wednesday to Thursday will be decisive for the Defense Forces in Soledar.

Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar also said that Russian occupation troops continue to advance in the Soledar area and are trying to surround Bakhmut, Donetsk Region.