The Ukrainian side said on the 14th (local time) that it was fighting Russian forces in Soledar on the eastern front, but that it still controlled the area.
According to AFP, Donetsk Governor Pablo Kirilenko said in an interview with a local broadcaster that day, “Soledar is controlled by the Ukrainian authorities and the army.”
“It is true that the vicinity of Soledar and Bahmut is the fiercest battlefield as a front line,” he said. “Right now, fighting continues inside and outside the city.”
Russia focused its offensive on Soledar instead, as the attack on Bahmut, which had continued for several months in eastern Donetsk, had failed to produce any results.
Soledar is the area where the fierce fighting is happening recently.
It is located in the middle of the main defensive line between Bahmut in the south and Sibersk in the north.
Analysts say Russia now controls most of the region.
If Russia occupies Soledar, it will be able to secure a bridgehead to surround Bahmut as a way to attack Donetsk.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, who heads the Wagner Group, a private Russian mercenary group, said he had recently taken control of Soledar.
However, Russia is withholding the announcement that it has gained full control of Soledar, and Ukraine claims that it is defending the region with fierce fighting.
/happy news
