JAKARTA - The city of Soler, where fierce fighting has been in the last few days, has been controlled by Russian private military company Wagner units, company chief Yevgeny Prigozhin was quoted as saying by his press service on Tuesday night.
" Wagner's private military company units have taken over the entire Soler area under their control. The city center has been under siege and the city war is underway. The number of prisoners will be announced tomorrow," Prigozhin was quoted as saying in a press release via the company's Telegram channel, launching TASS January 11.
Meanwhile, Acting Head of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin said the cities of Soledar and Artemovsk in the republic would soon be released. Heavy fighting is ongoing in those areas, he added.
"According to the latest update I have, the central Solar is under the control of Wagner's private military company," he said in an interview with Russian Channel One TV.
"On the one hand, they have made lodging and on the other hand, they are moving quite effectively, surrounding the western part of Soleredar," he explained, adding that it was the last direction the enemy could retreat.
"At the end of today, we see that the enemy continues to suffer serious losses here, both in terms of manpower and weapons," he said.
As previously reported, Russia increased the intensity of attacks led by the Wagner Group mercenaries in Soler in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv said Monday, describing the difficult situation for troops to push back waves of attacks around the nearby salt mining town and fronts.
Soledar, in the Donbas industrial area, is located several miles from Bakhmut, where troops from both sides suffered heavy losses in some of the most intense ditch wars since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.
Ukrainian forces repulsed previous attempts to seize the city but large numbers of Wagner units quickly returned, deploying new tactics and more troops under heavy artillery protection, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Secretary Hanna Malyar said on Telegram.
"The enemy really stepped over the bodies of their own soldiers, using mass artillery, multi-rocket and mortar launch systems," Malyar said, saying the attackers were taken from Wagner's best reserves.
Meanwhile, Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, has been trying to seize Bakhmut and Soler for months at the expense of many lives on both sides. He said on Saturday its significance lies in a large underground mining tunnel network.
"It's not only (having the ability to accommodate) a large group of people at a depth of 80-100 meters, but tanks and infantry fighting vehicles can also move," he said.
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