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Smoke over Soledar (recording from January 8th)
Photo: Roman Chop/AP
After long, heavy fighting, members of the Russian mercenary group Wagner announced the conquest of the eastern Ukrainian city of Soledar.
According to the Russian state agency TASS, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Tuesday evening that Soledar had been conquered.
A group of Ukrainian soldiers was still surrounded in the center of the village.
Around ten and a half months after the Russian attack on Ukraine, the fighting in Donetsk is currently particularly fierce.
The cities of Soledar and Bakhmut are of strategic importance: They are part of the Ukrainian defensive wall in front of the conurbation between Slovjansk and Kramatorsk.
From the Russian point of view, capturing the area would be a significant step towards conquering the entire Donbass – one of the Kremlin's war aims.
Contradictory statements
In addition to regular Russian troops, various mercenary units also fight at Soledar, including the infamous Wagner group.
"The number of prisoners of war will be announced tomorrow," Prigozhin was quoted as saying on one of the Wagner channels on Telegram.
According to the dpa news agency, the encircled Ukrainian soldiers had been given an ultimatum to surrender by midnight.
According to information from the Reuters news agency, the fighting in the city continues.
The information has not yet been independently verified.
The Ukrainian side has so far made no comment on Prigozhin's claims.
Shortly before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had praised the defenders of Soledar for their courage and steadfastness in his daily video message.
"Thank you, warrior!" he said.
In the early evening, the Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar reported violent assaults by Russian troops.
"Heavy fighting in defense of Soledar continues," she said on Telegram.
"Regardless of the losses, the enemy continues to attack." The front of the Ukrainian defense lines is "littered with the bodies of the attackers."
bbr/dpa/Reuters