The Russian Ministry of Defense officially announced the capture of Soledar. This happened 3 days after the founder of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin , spoke about complete control over the settlement.
“Establishing control over Soledar makes it possible to cut off the supply lines of Ukrainian troops in Artemovsk <meaning Bakhmut – The Insider> , and then block and take into the boiler the Ukrainian troops remaining in it,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement. At the same time, the speaker of the Eastern Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhiy Cherevaty, claims that the city has not been taken, and the fighting in it continues .
The Defense Ministry claims that the capture of the city became possible due to “constant fire destruction of the enemy by assault and army aircraft, missile troops and artillery of a group of Russian troops”:
"They continuously delivered concentrated strikes on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the city, preventing the transfer of reserves, the supply of ammunition, as well as attempts by the enemy to withdraw to other lines of defense."
Previously, the "Wagnerites" claimed to have taken control of Soledar alone. “Once again I want to emphasize that no units participated in the assault on Soledar, except for the fighters of the PMC Wagner,” said Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Also, according to the "Wagnerites", it is too early to talk about Bakhmut's entourage. In particular, on January 12, the Gray Zone channel associated with PMCs reported :
“Information and statements about the capture of Bakhmut in the operational encirclement by Russian forces do not correspond to reality. The Wagner Group is fighting for the city, and if this happens in reality, you will be the first to hear the news about it from them!”
On January 11, military expert Sergei Grabsky, in a conversation with The Insider, suggested that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would have to leave the city, but pointed out that this should not greatly affect the balance of power:
“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.”