Russia Says It Controls Battered Ukraine Town Of Soledar

Kramatorsk, Ukraine, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Jan, 2023 ) :Russia said Friday its forces had wrested control of the war-scarred town of Soledar in east Ukraine, Moscow's first claim of victory in months of battlefield setbacks.

"On the evening of January 12, the liberation of the city of Soledar was completed," the defence ministry announced, claiming this would pave the way for more "successful offensive operations" in the Donetsk region.

Ukraine denied the Russian claim and said "severe fighting" was on in the nearly completely destroyed town that is now the epicentre of the war.

"Ukraine's armed forces have the situation under control in difficult conditions," said Sergiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the eastern group of the Ukrainian armed forces.

Both sides have conceded heavy losses, with Moscow eager to sell any win back home after repeated battlefield humiliations and Ukraine desperate to hold and win background.

Moscow's announcement came as the UN Security Council was preparing to meet to discuss the war.

Ukraine's deputy defence minister said earlier that Russia had "relocated almost all of its main forces to the Donetsk front" to ensure Soledar's capture.

"This is a difficult phase of the war," Ganna Malyar conceded.

The Russian mercenary group Wagner has claimed that it spearheaded the offensive for Soledar and already announced this week that its forces were controlling it.

But both the Kremlin and the Russian defence ministry said fighting was ongoing at the time, an indication of the fractious Russian groupings involved in the fight.

President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Thursday that Ukrainian forces defending Soledar and neighbouring Bakhmut would be armed with everything they need in some of the bloodiest battles of the war.