Ukrainian military personnel, as Serhiy Cherevaty, spokesman for the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said, after leaving the city, they took up defensive positions prepared in advance.
Units of the Defense Forces of Ukraine after fierce fighting were forced to withdraw from the front-line Soledar. This information was announced on January 25 in a comment by France24 speaker Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces Sergei Cherevaty.
In particular, for the first time at the official level, a representative of the command acknowledged the fact that units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces had withdrawn from Soledar, which had been actively stormed by Russian troops for several weeks.
According to Cherevaty, the fighters, after leaving the front-line city, took up defensive positions prepared in advance. At the same time, the spokesman of the command did not specify exactly when the Ukrainian servicemen were withdrawn from Soledar.
“After months of heavy fighting, including in recent weeks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine left Soledar and retreated along the outskirts to pre-prepared positions,” Cherevaty said in a conversation with French journalists.
Note that On January 13, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on the alleged complete capture of Soledar and claimed that as a result of the hostilities, the invaders “managed to liquidate 700 Ukrainian servicemen and 300 units of military equipment.”
The last time the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in their reports mentioned Soledar January 22. In the morning report, the command claimed that the RF Armed Forces continue to carry out offensive operations in the Bakhmut direction. Also, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine informed that on January 21, the front-line city came under Russian artillery strikes.
The military intelligence of the British Ministry of Defense, in a report dated January 18, suggested that units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could leave Soledar after fierce hostilities. The department’s report stated that the Ukrainian Defense Forces were likely withdrawn from the front-line town by the evening of January 16, after which they took up defensive positions west of the settlement.
On January 18, John Kirby, National Security Council spokesman for the presidential administration, argued that RF Armed Forces failed to install over Soledar and noted that fierce fighting continues in the Bakhmut direction.
