Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: Russia said Friday that its forces had gained control of the war-scarred town of Soledar in east Ukraine, Moscow’s first claim of victory in months of battlefield setbacks.
The Russian defense ministry announced that the liberation of the city of Soledar was completed on the evening of January 12 and added that the development would pave the way for more “successful offensive operations” in the Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, Ukraine has denied the Russian claim and maintained that severe fighting was on in the almost completely destroyed town that is now the epicenter of the war.
A spokesperson for the eastern group of the Ukrainian armed forces Sergiy Cherevaty has said that Ukraine’s armed forces have the situation under control in tough difficult conditions.
Amid the ongoing war, both sides have conceded heavy losses, with Moscow eager to sell any win back home after continuous battlefield humiliations and Ukraine desperate to hold and win background.
Moscow’s announcement came at a time when the UN Security Council was preparing to meet to discuss the war.
Ukrainian minister reacts to Moscow claims
Earlier Ukraine’s deputy defense minister said that Russia had relocated almost all of its main forces to the Donetsk front to guarantee Soledar’s capture.
The Russian mercenary group Wagner has claimed that the group spearheaded the assault on Soledar and already announced this week that its forces were capturing it.
However, both the Kremlin and the Russian defense ministry said fighting was still going on at the time, an indication of the fractious Russian groupings involved in the fight.
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed on Thursday that Ukrainian forces defending Soledar and the neighboring Bakhmut would be armed with all possible resources they need in some of the bloodiest fights of the war.
