LPR analyst says elite Ukrainian troops failed to retake Soledar

Colonel Vitaly Kiselyov, a military analyst in the Lugansk People’s Republic, on Friday told TASS that Ukrainian battle-scarred elite units failed to retake Soledar from Russian forces.

"Some 300-400 people on light armored vehicles, on pickups tried to burst into Soledar and drive away our units. They were the remnants of 46th and 77th [assault] brigades that are regarded as elite Ukrainian units. [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky pinned great hopes on these UK-trained units," he said.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov on Friday said Russian troops had liberated Soledar in the evening of January 12. He said full control over Soledar made it possible to sever supply routes of Ukrainian forces in Artyomovsk, known in Ukraine as Bakhmut, which is located to the southwest, then surround Ukrainian forces in that town.