Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned Monday his troops have been withstanding “new and even tougher assaults” on Soledar, close to the jap metropolis of Bakhmut that Moscow has been making an attempt to seize for months.
“I thank all our soldiers who protect our Bakhmut… (and) all the fighters in Soledar, who are withstanding the new and even tougher assaults from the invaders!” Zelensky mentioned in his every day deal with, including that his troops “won additional time and (preserved) forces for Ukraine”.
Soledar is positioned within the Donetsk area, round 15 kilometres (9 miles) from Bakhmut, a metropolis with a pre-war inhabitants of 70,000 that’s now an epicentre of combating.
“Thanks to the resilience of our soldiers there, in Soledar, we won additional time and (preserved) forces for Ukraine,” Zelensky added.
“Everything is completely destroyed… the whole land in Soledar is covered with corpses of the invaders and is scarred from the explosions,” the Ukrainian chief mentioned.
Earlier Monday, the Ukrainian armed forces mentioned they repelled an try and seize Soledar, however that combating resumed.
“After an unsuccessful attempt of the enemy to capture Soledar and retreat, (Russians) regrouped, recovered the manpower, transferred additional assault units, changed tactics and started assault actions,” Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar mentioned on Telegram.
“Currently, the enemy has deployed a large number of assault units formed from the best reserves of the Wagner Group. They literally step on the corpses of their own soldiers,” Malyar added.
Earlier on Monday Russian-backed separatist forces within the Donetsk area mentioned they captured the village of Bakhmutske, just some kilometres away from Soledar.
Separately, Wagner’s founder Yevgeny Prigozhin mentioned on social media that Soledar was being stormed “exclusively” by the group’s items.
In September, Moscow claimed to have annexed Donetsk and three different Ukrainian areas following referendums not recognised by Kyiv and the West.
