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Russia declared the capture of Soledar in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine on Friday after days of intense fighting.
The town was completely taken over by the Russian armed forces on Thursday evening, the Defence Ministry in Moscow announced. Kiev has not yet confirmed this, though Western experts said it was likely to have happened.
It would be the first capture of a town by the Russian army since July, when Lysychansk was taken.
Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov hailed the reported news as ‘significantly important for the continuation of the successful offensive’ in the Donetsk region.
Konashenkov said the capture of Soledar would help Russian troops to encircle the town of Bachmut, around 10 kilometres away. He added that 700 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed in the battle.
Experts said the success would also be important for Russian morale, weakened after many defeats. Moscow’s troops have a new command structure since Wednesday, with Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov in charge.
In Ukraine, the Defence Ministry said earlier on Friday that fighting for Soledar was continuing.
‘Our troops are holding their ground against the enemy,’ said a spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhiy Cherevaty.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had previously described reports of the Russian capture of the Soledar as propaganda.
The loss of the town would be the first major setback for Ukraine after months of successes in retaking towns and territories in the south and east since September.
The US Institute for the Study of War said it did not consider the loss of Soledar as an important development in the war.
However, the entire Ukrainian defensive line from Siversk to Bachmut, which Kiev has held since July, could now come under pressure.
The head of the Russian paramilitary organization Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had already announced on Wednesday that Soledar had been taken and only needed to be ‘cleansed’ of the remnants of the Ukrainian army.
He is reported to be targeting the rock salt deposits of the mining industry there.
The battle for Soledar is considered one of the bloodiest of the war, which began last February with Russia’s invasion of its neighbour and former fellow member of the Soviet Union.
According to Ukrainian sources on Wednesday, 559 civilians in a town once totalling 10,000 were still in the city. The Russian side said all residents have been moved out of the town.
Rare recent good news on the battle front could boost the Kremlin. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Friday that preparations were already under way for President Vladimir Putin’s re-election bid in 2024.
By Ulf Mauder and Andreas Stein, dpa
source: dpa
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