Russia claims control of strategic town of Soledar, Ukraine denies

The Russian Defense Ministry has said that its forces have captured the strategic town of Soledar after days of fierce fighting, a claim quickly rejected by Ukraine’s military, which said that its forces continue to battle the troops advancing into the town.

“The liberation of the town of Soledar was completed in the evening of Jan. 12,” Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, declared on Friday, adding that the development was “important for the continuation of offensive operations in the Donetsk region.”

Capturing Soledar would represent the biggest success for Moscow’s forces in Ukraine in months, making it possible for them to cut off Ukrainian supply routes to the larger nearby city of Bakhmut, trapping the remaining Ukrainian forces there. Russia had been trying to take Bakhmut for months.

“The capture of Soledar was made possible by the constant bombardment of the enemy by assault and army aviation, missile forces and artillery of a grouping of Russian forces,” the Defense Ministry said.

However, Kiev claimed the fighting still continued there, after what it described as a “hot” night.

“The night in Soledar was hot, battles continued,” Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said via the Telegram messaging app.

“The enemy threw almost all the main forces in the direction of Donetsk and maintains a high intensity of offensive. Our fighters are bravely trying to maintain the defense,” she said, referring to the Donetsk region which includes Soledar.

Soledar, an eastern salt-mining town with a pre-war population of 10,000, leads to Bakhmut, ten times larger, which is a substantial provincial district hub.

Meanwhile, US military officials have made efforts to downplay the Russians’ military victory over Kiev forces.

“Even if both Bakhmut and Soledar fall to the Russians, it’s not going to have a strategic impact on the war itself,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House on Thursday, adding that “it certainly isn’t going to stop the Ukrainians or slow them down.”

On the other side of the ledger, Moscow says that Russian forces have so far succeeded in making significant progress towards “demilitarizing” Ukraine, one of the goals set out by Russian President Vladimir Putin when he launched the “special military operation” last year.

Russia made significant progress towards ‘demilitarizing’ Ukraine: Kremlin

Russia made significant progress towards “demilitarizing” Ukraine, the Kremlin says.

“It can be stated that there is significant progress towards demilitarization,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last month.

The spokesman’s remarks came on the heels of comments by Putin, who noted that Ukraine’s defense potential was close to zero.

Upon the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine last February, Putin declared that Moscow’s objective was to demilitarize the pro-Russia regions in the eastern parts of the country. Recent reports indicate that Ukraine’s military-industrial complex as well as its energy and transportation infrastructure have been badly knocked out and damaged in Russian airstrikes.

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