Ukrainian troops began an organized retreat from Soledar (Donetsk region).
This is reported by the American TV channel CNN.
The team of journalists, which is about 5 kilometers from Soledar, witnessed the “organized movement of troops”, which indicates the withdrawal of the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the city. Journalists of the TV channel separately emphasized that there was no panic among the Ukrainian military.
The situation in Soledar of the Donetsk region remains extremely difficult, there are almost continuous battles. Soledar itself is a small (about 10,000 population according to data for February 2022) city 10 km northeast of Bakhmut. The state-owned enterprise Artemsil, the largest salt production company in Eastern and Central Europe, is located there. The plant stopped working in the spring, which caused a shortage of salt in Ukraine.
- On January 11, fighters of the Wagner PMC announced the capture of the city. The Ministry of Defense of Russia then denied this report, saying that Russian troops only blocked the forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from two directions. The Ukrainian authorities denied that Soledar was under Russian control.