Ukraine Loses 200 Servicemen In Failed Counterattack On Soledar - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2023) Ukraine lost some 200 servicemen in a failed bid to recapture Soledar in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) after Russian troops knocked Ukrainian armed forces out of the flashpoint city, Russian broadcaster RT reported on Thursday, citing Ukrainian radio intercepts.

The intercepts suggested that Kiev reported many fighters as missing following the botched counterattack to downplay its losses in live force, according to the media outlet.

Ukrainian troops reportedly mounted the counteroffensive on Tuesday morning, with two brigades riding into battle on French-made VAB armored personnel carriers and Wolfhound mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle donated by the United Kingdom.

A Russian air force jet detected and destroyed the targets.

On Wednesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said the Russian airborne units had blocked the northern and southern parts of Soledar. Later in the day, the head of the Wagner Group private military company, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said the city had come under the full control of the Russian forces. The capture of Soledar has opened the way to the bridgehead of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, which can become a turning point in wrestling control over the entire territory of DPR from Ukraine, according to DPR acting head Denis Pushilin.