He said this live on air of the Espreso TV channel.
"Situation around Bakhmut and Soledar should be approached with a cold mind. Defense continues, and successes of the Ukrainian army are as follows. The fact that the Russian enemy is trying to advance on the northern and southern outskirts of Bakhmut direction indicates that the first phase of battle for Bakhmut has been won by the Ukrainian army," Nazarenko emphasized.
According to him, heavy fighting continues in the southern direction of Donetsk region.
"Russian troops are already afraid to storm Bakhmut head-on. No matter how many troops Russian occupying forces gather, they cannot take Bakhmut head-on. That is why active fighting is taking place in the southern direction of Donetsk region. Soledar is several square kilometers of burnt out land and burnt out town. Russian forces lost a huge amount of soldiers there. The fact that Russian troops entered part of Soledar means they have nowhere to gain a foothold. They cannot hold on there, they destroyed this town before and now become easy targets," Nazarenko added.
ISW analysts believe that the Russian announcement about capture of Soledar only emphasized the struggle between Russian Ministry of Defense and Wagner PMC: ministry's statement did not mention involvement of Wagner mercenaries in the successes of capturing the town.