The Ukrainian army has said it has withdrawn from the hotly contested town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine. After “months of heavy fighting”, Ukrainian troops have left the town and retreated to other positions, military spokesman Sergiy Cherevaty told AFP on Wednesday. He did not name a date for the withdrawal.
Moscow had already announced the capture of Soledar on January 13, but Ukraine had denied this. With the capture of Soledar, Russian forces claim their first notable victory after several setbacks in recent months. Soledar is about 15 kilometers northeast of the town of Bakhmut, which the Russian army and Wagner mercenaries have been trying to take for months. Pro-Russian separatist leader Denis Puschilin reported further advances of Russian troops in Bakhmut on Wednesday.
Russians have been trying to capture Bakhmut for months
According to reports from Russian news agencies, Puschilin said that the Wagner fighters in particular were “making progress”. Fighting is taking place on the outskirts and in parts of the city “recently occupied by the enemy”. Since the summer, Russian troops have been trying to capture Bakhmut, which had a population of 70,000 before the war. However, despite continuous attacks, they have so far failed to take the city.
Ukraine would lose triple-digit numbers of soldiers every day
A few days ago, the “Spiegel” reported that the German Federal Intelligence Service was concerned about the heavy losses suffered by the Ukrainian army in the battle for Bakhmut. Accordingly, the Ukrainian army is currently losing a three-digit number of soldiers every day in the battles with the Russian invaders for the city. A US official last week demanded that Ukraine not fixate on defending Bakhmut, but use the time to prepare a counter-offensive against Russian forces. The focus on Bakhmut’s defense is keeping Ukraine from focusing on the more important task of preparing a spring offensive, he said.
Rather than sacrifice soldiers and ammunition fighting over a strategically unimportant target, the US government is advising Ukraine to reorganize its forces and use US-led training programs to deploy an advanced and heavily armed force in an offensive in the south of the country. can send.
Source: Krone
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