Pentagon sees no signs Russia has captured Soledar

US Department of Defense spokesman General Patrick Ryder shared the information during a briefing at the Pentagon.

“We do continue to see intense and heavy fighting around Soledar and Bakhmut which of course, is relatively close. We cannot corroborate any reports that Soledar has been taken by Russian forces,” he stressed.

According to him, the information about the seizure of the town was spread by the media, and the reports stated that Soledar was allegedly under the control of the Wagner group.

“But we do know that the Ukrainians continue to operate in the vicinity of Soledar and continue to fight back. So, in the meantime, our focus obviously remains on continuing to work with Ukraine and the international community to get Ukraine the security assistance that it needs,” the Pentagon spokesman added.

• On January 11, Colonel Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Forces in the Eastern sector, denied Russian claims that Soledar is under Russian control.
• NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the battles of Ukrainian defenders for Bakhmut and Soledar, Donetsk region, show how important it is to strengthen military assistance to Ukraine.
• In the afternoon of the same day, Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Maliar reported that in the town of Soledar Russian troops are trying to break through the defense, heavy fighting continued.
• On January 12, Ukrainian troops eliminated more than 100 Russian soldiers near Soledar. And Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine’s Eastern Group of Troops, said that battles were going on in the area of Soledar, Russian forces suffered maximum damage.
• In the evening report, the AFU General Staff emphasized: the most fierce fighting continues near Soledar, Paraskoviivka, Bakhmut and Klishchiivka. In the Bakhmut direction, 10 settlements of Donetsk region were hit by Russian fire.