The Russian Ministry of Defense reports that Soledar is blocked by airborne units from the northern and southern parts of the settlement, and the Aerospace Forces are attacking the city. “Assault squads are fighting in the city,” the ministry’s summary says.
Apty Alaudinov, deputy commander of the 2nd army corps of the People’s Militia of the “LPR”, said on the Rossiya-1 TV channel that Russian forces were “cleansing Soledar”, and the city can be considered “already taken”.
At the same time, on the eve of the press service of Yevgeny Prigozhin, it was reported that only the forces of Wagner PMC were participating in the assault on Soledar:
"Once again I want to emphasize that no units participated in the assault on Soledar, except for the fighters of the PMC Wagner."
Moreover, Prigozhin stated that Soledar was completely taken under control: “Units of the Wagner PMC took control of the entire territory of Soledar”, which contradicts the current version of the Ministry of Defense, which claims to “block” two parts of the city.
Military expert Sergei Grabsky, in a conversation with The Insider, confirmed the information that, together with PMCs, trained units of the “LPR” and “DPR” are taking part in the storming of the city. According to him, if the city is captured, it will not be a big strategic defeat:
“Even if Soledar has to be abandoned, it will not have much effect on the balance of power. So they [the Russian army] once took Donetsk and Lisichansk, so what? No, they don't advance any more. They advanced at some crazy price by 30-40 kilometers in 10 months. Well, they will go to Soledar, so what? The supply still goes through Konstantinovka. If they go at such a pace, then I don’t know how much troops they will have.”
On January 10, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the reserve, military expert Roman Svitan told The Insider that it was the Wagner PMC that surrounded Soledar. According to him, the main task for the Ukrainians is not the preservation of the territory, but the destruction of enemy manpower.