Russia’s Defence Ministry: Soledar 'blockaded' from north and south, fighting underway in the city 

The city of Soledar, Donetsk region, has been "blockaded" from the north and south by airborne forces divisions, the Russian Ministry of Defence official representative Igor Konashenkov reports at a briefing.

According to the information available to the Russian ministry, aviation is attacking the Ukrainian forces’ strongholds, while assault squads are fighting in the city.

The ministry also claims that Russian forces captured the village Pidhorodne in Donetsk direction. 

Yesterday, 10 January, the press office of Yevgeny Prigozhin, founder of private military company Wagner, claimed that the Wagner units had taken control over the entire territory of Soledar. However, Deputy Defence Minister of Ukraine Anna Maliar said that “heavy fighting” was continuing over the city. 

According to the US Institute for the Study of War (ISW) analysts, Russian forces have not yet been able to fully capture the city of Soledar in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, despite the fake statements made by some Russian sources on the city falling and the nearby city of Bakhmut risking imminent encirclement. It is difficult to say who is controlling the blocks of the city due to the “dynamic nature of urban combat”. 

Control of Soledar will not necessarily allow Russian forces to exert control over critical Ukrainian ground lines of communication into Bakhmut, ISW noted.