Ukraine confirms that its troops have left Soledar after a fierce battle. The Russian army claimed to have captured the town just north of Bakhmut earlier this month.
The Ukrainians withdrew from Soledar after months of heavy fighting with many dead and wounded. According to an army spokesman, towards positions that were “pre-prepared”. It was not disclosed when exactly the withdrawal took place.
The area between Soledar and Bakhmut is “one of the bloodiest on the front,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said earlier. Satellite images show Soledar completely destroyed.
Russian troops have been trying to take Bakhmut for months. The Russian mercenary army Wagner Group is mainly deployed for this. The capture of Soledar serves to support that siege.
Bakhmut is located in the eastern region of Donetsk, where war broke out in 2014 between the Ukrainian army and Moscow-led rebels. The leader of those separatists, Denis Pushilin, said on Wednesday that Wagner in particular is now on the rise in Bakhmut.
International analysts question Bakhmut’s strategic importance. But the city can serve as a starting point for the Russians when they launch the offensive to conquer the rest of the Donetsk basin in the spring. Furthermore, the battle for Bakhmut is especially important for Moscow, because the Russians have not been able to claim victories in Ukraine for quite some time.
