{"id":3054,"date":"2023-01-13T12:46:52","date_gmt":"2023-01-13T12:46:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=3054"},"modified":"2023-03-23T18:39:47","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T18:39:47","slug":"russia-says-its-forces-have-captured-soledar-in-eastern-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/analysis\/defense\/russia-says-its-forces-have-captured-soledar-in-eastern-ukraine\/2023\/01\/13\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia says its forces have captured Soledar in eastern Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/span>KIEV<\/span> (Reuters)<\/span> Jan,13–<\/span> Russian<\/span> forces<\/span> said<\/span> on<\/span> Friday<\/span> they<\/span> had<\/span> captured<\/span> the<\/span> salt-mining<\/span> town<\/span> of<\/span> Soledar<\/span> in<\/span> eastern<\/span> Ukraine<\/span> overnight<\/span> after<\/span> days<\/span> of<\/span> relentless<\/span> fighting,<\/span> marking<\/span> Russia’s<\/span> first<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> battlefield<\/span> in<\/span> six<\/span> months.<\/span> I<\/span> wanted<\/span> great<\/span> results.<\/span><\/p>\n


\n<\/span>Reuters<\/span> could<\/span> not<\/span> immediately<\/span> confirm<\/span> the<\/span> situation<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> city.<\/span> Earlier<\/span> on<\/span> Friday,<\/span> Kyiv<\/span> said<\/span> fighting<\/span> continued<\/span> after<\/span> what<\/span> was<\/span> described<\/span> as<\/span> a<\/span> “hot”<\/span> night.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> ultranationalist<\/span> Wagner<\/span> Mercenary<\/span> Company,<\/span> run<\/span> by<\/span> an<\/span> ally<\/span> of<\/span> President<\/span> Vladimir<\/span> Putin,<\/span> claimed<\/span> to<\/span> have<\/span> captured<\/span> Soledar<\/span> on<\/span> Wednesday,<\/span> but<\/span> so<\/span> far<\/span> the<\/span> Russian<\/span> Defense<\/span> Ministry<\/span> has<\/span> remained<\/span> silent.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>\u201cThe<\/span> night<\/span> in<\/span> Soleda<\/span> was<\/span> hot<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> fighting<\/span> continued,\u201d<\/span> Ukrainian<\/span> Deputy<\/span> Minister<\/span> of<\/span> Defense<\/span> Hanna<\/span> Maryal<\/span> wrote<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> messaging<\/span> app<\/span> Telegram.<\/span> \u201cThe<\/span> enemy<\/span> has<\/span> put<\/span> almost<\/span> all<\/span> its<\/span> main<\/span> forces<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> direction<\/span> of<\/span> Donetsk<\/span> and<\/span> is<\/span> maintaining<\/span> a<\/span> heavy<\/span> attack.<\/span> .<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Ukrainian<\/span> officials<\/span> said<\/span> Thursday<\/span> that<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> 500<\/span> of<\/span> her<\/span> civilians,<\/span> including<\/span> 15<\/span> children,<\/span> were<\/span> trapped<\/span> in<\/span> Soledar.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In<\/span> a<\/span> late-night<\/span> video<\/span> address,<\/span> Ukrainian<\/span> President<\/span> Volodymyr<\/span> Zelensky<\/span> thanked<\/span> Soledar’s<\/span> two<\/span> units<\/span> for<\/span> “holding<\/span> their<\/span> positions<\/span> and<\/span> inflicting<\/span> heavy<\/span> casualties<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> enemy.”<\/span> He<\/span> gave<\/span> no<\/span> further<\/span> details.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> Ukrainian<\/span> front<\/span> line<\/span> has<\/span> barely<\/span> moved<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> two<\/span> months<\/span> since<\/span> Russia<\/span> last<\/span> withdrew<\/span> south.<\/span> Meanwhile,<\/span> the<\/span> battle<\/span> between<\/span> Bahmut<\/span> and<\/span> Soledar<\/span> became<\/span> what<\/span> both<\/span> sides<\/span> called<\/span> a<\/span> “meat<\/span> grinder”.<\/span> This<\/span> is<\/span> a<\/span> brutal<\/span> war<\/span> of<\/span> attrition<\/span> that<\/span> has<\/span> claimed<\/span> the<\/span> lives<\/span> of<\/span> thousands<\/span> of<\/span> soldiers<\/span> needed<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> critical<\/span> battle<\/span> to<\/span> come.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> new<\/span> year<\/span> has<\/span> brought<\/span> a<\/span> significant<\/span> promise<\/span> of<\/span> ultra-Western<\/span> weapons<\/span> to<\/span> Ukraine,<\/span> which<\/span> is<\/span> searching<\/span> for<\/span> weapons<\/span> to<\/span> engage<\/span> in<\/span> mechanized<\/span> warfare<\/span> against<\/span> Russian<\/span> tanks.<\/span> Last<\/span> week,<\/span> France,<\/span> Germany<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> United<\/span> States<\/span> pledged<\/span> to<\/span> send<\/span> armored<\/span> fighting<\/span> vehicles.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In<\/span> recent<\/span> days,<\/span> the<\/span> focus<\/span> has<\/span> been<\/span> on<\/span> main<\/span> battle<\/span> tanks<\/span> that<\/span> the<\/span> West<\/span> has<\/span> yet<\/span> to<\/span> deploy.<\/span> On<\/span> Friday,<\/span> Finland<\/span> joined<\/span> Poland<\/span> in<\/span> pledging<\/span> to<\/span> send<\/span> German-made<\/span> Leopard<\/span> tanks<\/span> to<\/span> Ukraine<\/span> as<\/span> part<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> Western<\/span> coalition.<\/span> This<\/span> requires<\/span> Berlin’s<\/span> previously<\/span> hesitant<\/span> approval,<\/span> but<\/span> has<\/span> recently<\/span> shown<\/span> its<\/span> willingness<\/span> to<\/span> do<\/span> so.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Putin,<\/span> who<\/span> launched<\/span> the<\/span> invasion<\/span> on<\/span> February<\/span> 24,<\/span> said<\/span> Kyiv’s<\/span> ties<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> West<\/span> threatened<\/span> Russia’s<\/span> security,<\/span> and<\/span> Russia<\/span> has<\/span> since<\/span> annexed<\/span> four<\/span> Ukrainian<\/span> provinces.<\/span> and<\/span> its<\/span> allies<\/span> have<\/span> called<\/span> it<\/span> a<\/span> one-sided<\/span> war<\/span> for<\/span> territorial<\/span> gain,<\/span> with<\/span> Kyiv<\/span> saying<\/span> it<\/span> will<\/span> fight<\/span> until<\/span> it<\/span> regains<\/span> all<\/span> its<\/span> land.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KIEV (Reuters) Jan,13– Russian forces said on Friday they had captured the salt-mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine overnight after days of relentless fighting, marking Russia’s first on the battlefield in six months. I wanted great results. Reuters could not immediately confirm the situation in the city. Earlier on Friday, Kyiv said fighting continued […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3021,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[26,24,276,2425,2480,2482],"tags":[76,132,154,170,174],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/UKRINEWAR.webp","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3054"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3057,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3054\/revisions\/3057"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}