The Armed Forces of Ukraine have completely withdrawn from the settlement of Soledar, Donetsk Region.
This was reported by the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Cherevatyi, writes BBC News Ukraine.
"In order to preserve the lives of the personnel, the Defense Forces moved away from Soledar and entrenched themselves on pre-prepared defense lines. The defenders of Soledar created a real feat, despite the enemy's 3-5 times superiority, powerfully held their positions. They inflicted huge losses on the enemy in terms of personnel, which can be compared with the losses of the aggressor in the two Chechen wars," Cherevatyi said.
We will remind you that on January 10, the Russians began to declare that they had completely taken over Soledar. Later, on January 13, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the complete capture of the town. The Ukrainian General Staff refuted this information and stated that there was fighting there.
The Russian army began advancing on Bakhmut in the summer of 2022, and fighters of the private military company Wagner took an active part in the offensive. However, the Russians were never able to capture this large city.
In early January 2023, the fighting for the town of Soledar, located 20 km northeast of Bakhmut, intensified. The Russians directed the main attack there and called its capture the key to the further encirclement of Bakhmut.
Only a year ago, Soledar had a population of about 10,000 people, and the main supplier of salt to Ukraine and the entire region worked there.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on January 14, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that heavy fighting continues for Soledar of the Donetsk Region.
On January 13, Serhii Cherevatyi, the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that the Russian army did not capture Soledar.
On January 16, Cherevatyi emphasized that Soledar cannot be called Russian, because Ukrainian fighters continue to defend the town and destroy the occupiers, preventing them from advancing further.
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