Ukraine: “Field strewn with bodies of attackers” Chauvi influencer Andrew Tate remains behind bars in Romania for the time being

After days of heavy fighting for the eastern Ukrainian city of Soledar, members of the notorious Russian mercenary group Wagner announced the capture of the city. According to the Russian state agency TASS, Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Tuesday evening that Soledar had been captured. In the center of the village, a group of Ukrainian soldiers was still surrounded.

Wagner group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed that Wagner group troops were still fighting a unit of “coordinated Ukrainian resistance” in Soledar, but that they were surrounded. His fighters controlled the city.

The renowned “Institute for the Study of War” (ISW) contradicts Russian statements: “Despite false Russian claims that the city has fallen and Bakhmut is about to be surrounded, Russian forces have not captured the entire city of Soledar. “

Some ten and a half months after the Russian attack on Ukraine, fighting in the Donetsk region is currently particularly intense. With freezing temperatures of minus 18 degrees, the war raged particularly fiercely. The towns of Soledar and Bachmut are of strategic importance: They are part of the Ukrainian defensive wall for the agglomeration between Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. From the Russian point of view, capturing the area would be an important step towards conquering the entire Donbass – one of the Kremlin’s war goals.

Ukrainian military observers described the statement as “cheap propaganda”. The Ukrainian units have withdrawn to new positions and there can be no question of encirclement. There was initially no official statement from the Ukrainian leadership. The Russian army has not made an official statement on this either.

In addition to regular Russian troops, various mercenaries also fight at Soledar, including the infamous Wagner Group. “The number of prisoners of war will be announced tomorrow,” Prigozhin said on one of the Wagner channels on Telegram. There it was also said that the surrounded Ukrainian soldiers had been given an ultimatum to surrender before midnight. The information could not be independently verified.

There was no comment from the Ukrainian side. Shortly before, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had praised Soledar’s defenders for their courage and fortitude in his daily video message. “Thank you, warrior!” Zelenskyy said.

In the early evening, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar reported on violent attacks by Russian forces. “Tough fighting to defend Soledar continues,” she said on Telegram. “Regardless of their losses, the enemy continues to attack.” The front of the Ukrainian defensive lines was “strewn with the bodies of the attackers”.

More than 500 civilians currently reside in Soledar, Ukrainian military administrator of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, announced on Tuesday evening. “Some of them would like to leave the city immediately, which is not possible at the moment because of the heavy fighting,” he said on television. “As long as there is no safe way out of the city, there will be no evacuation.”

Ukrainian President Zelenskyi sent four pro-Russian MPs abroad. “If people’s representatives decide not to serve the Ukrainian people, but the murderers who have come to Ukraine, then our steps will be appropriate,” the 44-year-old said in his daily video address on Tuesday. According to the constitution, the displacement was based on information from the SBU secret service and the migration service, Zelenskyj said. “Our services work.”

The Ukrainian passport was revoked from MP Viktor Medvechuk, who came to Russia in September as part of a prisoner exchange. The other three affected are also suspected in the neighboring state. All four represented the party “Opposition Platform – For Life”, which was banned after the February 2022 Russian invasion.

All four MPs are believed to have Russian citizenship. Under Zelenskyi’s predecessor Petro Poroshenko and in the Soviet Union, it was common practice to deprive politically undesirables of their citizenship.

The training of Ukrainian soldiers on the US-announced Bradley armored cars will take place at the military training ground in Grafenwoehr, Bavaria. This was confirmed on Tuesday by Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder. The United States announced last week that it would also deliver 50 Bradleys as part of its latest arms shipments to Ukraine.

According to Ryder, the tanks will arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks. The Pentagon had previously announced that starting next week, about 100 Ukrainian soldiers at a military base in Oklahoma would be trained in the Patriot anti-aircraft system.

The Ukrainian army is preparing for a new attack by Russian ground forces from Belarus in the direction of the capital Kyiv. Defense positions have already been prepared or reinforced in the north of the country for this, says Lieutenant General Oleksiy Pavlyuk, who is responsible for the defense of Kiev. To prevent the rapid advance of tanks by Russian units, larger minefields were laid at all points accessible to tanks.

(cc, with dpa material)