For half a year now, the Ukrainian war has been marked by Russia’s inability to gain ground. To the east of the country, the Kremlin forces were giving in to the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the towns of Kharkov or Izium; in the south they lost control of Kherson. On January 6, President Vladimir Putin scored his first breakthrough since the summer: he was able to advance on a small town in Donbas. Control of much of the territory of Soledar, which before the war had some 10,000 inhabitants, paves the way for the seven times more populous city of Bakhmut.
The capture of Soledar was put within the reach of Russian forces thanks to a Ukrainian mistake. On January 6, Wagner’s mercenaries took advantage of Putin’s unilateral ceasefire on Orthodox Christmas Eve to launch a surprise attack. On the rival side, they found two inexperienced infantry brigades that were unable to stop the onslaught. A single day was enough for Wagner’s mercenaries to occupy a large part of the town.
While analysts agree that the latest Russian developments could help increase Russia’s pressure on Bakhmut, the accumulated wear and tear on Soledar limits the room for action on both sides. Over the past week there have been only marginal changes in the areas of Russian control to the east and south of the settlement. The Russian Defense Ministry stated on January 13 that its troops had taken Soledar, a key town in Donetsk for the supply of Ukrainian troops on the eastern front. The kyiv army denied, however, the loss of the town.
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According to Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the establishment of a complete siege by Kremlin forces around the town of Bakhmut is not imminent.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner Group, also recognized on Thursday that the capture of this new military objective will not be possible in the short term. “The Ukrainian army is working clearly and harmoniously. We have a lot to learn from them, ”he admitted in statements published by his press service.
In this story has contributed Christian Segura.
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