Ukrainian forces still holding out in Soledar, claims Zelensky

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday (January 12) said that Ukrainian troops were still holding out against pro-Russia forces in Soledar, the salt mining town in eastern Ukraine. More than 500 civilians including children are trapped there.In a video address, Zelensky thanked two units in Soledar that he said "are holding their positions and inflicting significant losses on the enemy." He did not give more details.

He said that he, along with senior commanders of the Ukrainian military analysed need for reinforcements in Soledar and nearby towns.

Russia's ultra-nationalist contract militia Wagner Group, run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin, had earlier claimed to have taken Soledar after intense fighting that it said left the town strewn with Ukrainian dead.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

Watch | Why is Russia replacing its top military commander in Ukraine again?

Moscow however, had then officially restrained from proclaiming a victory, which would be its first significant gain in six months, and said the fighting is on.

"At the moment, there are still some small pockets of resistance in Soledar," Andrei Bayevsky, a Russian-installed local politician, said in an online broadcast.

On Friday (January 13), however,Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, who is the Russian Defence Ministry's spokesman, said: "The liberation of the town of Soledar was completed in the evening of January 12."

Konashenkov added that the development was important for the continuation of offensive operations in the Donetsk region.Konashenkov further said that taking control of Soledar would allow Russian forces to cut supply lines for the Ukrainian forces in the Donestsk city of Bakhmut and then block and encircle the Ukrainian units there.

Reuters said it was unable to independently verify the situation.

Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian state TV that 559 civilians remained in Soledar, including 15 children, and could not be evacuated from the community that had a pre-war population of about 10,000.

(With inputs from agencies)

You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.

WATCH WION LIVE HERE