Russia's Wagner Group claims to have freed the city of Soledar from Ukrai

Moscow/Kyiv: Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian contract military company, Wagner Military Group, has claimed that the city of Soledar in the Donbas region of Ukraine has been liberated from Ukrainian occupation. The Wagner Group also occasionally released some photographs of the mines located in Soledar. Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, confirmed the control over Soledar and praised the bravery and sacrifices made by Russian soldiers. But Ukraine has rejected Russia’s claims and claimed that the conflict in Soledar is still ongoing.

Moreover, Soledar is one of the strategically important cities of the Donetsk region. Large mines of rock salt and gypsum in this city and Russia captured this city in 2014 and in the conflict in August last year. But then, the Ukrainian army forced the Russian troops to retreat. Control over this city is considered very important for Russia. This city is just 18 kilometres away from Bakhmut city in Donbas region. So control over Soledar is crucial for the control of Bakhmut.

For the past few days, there has been constant news about the conflict in Soledar. Against this backdrop, the head of the Wagner Group issued a statement on Wednesday night announcing that Soledar had been released from Ukrainian occupation. The head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said that nearly 500 Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the conflict. He also claimed that the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were lying in all the places in the city.

Russia’s defence ministry has not confirmed the claims made by Wagner. But Russian government spokesman Peskov has reacted to the control over Soledar. In it, he praised the sacrifice and bravery of Russian soldiers. At the same time, he also claimed that now is not the time to celebrate the victory and there is a lot of work left. A group of pro-Russian rebels in the Donetsk region has also confirmed the capture of Soledar. Officials in Donetsk claimed that Russia could launch a more aggressive offensive to gain control of Bakhmut and cut off supplies to Ukrainian forces.

However, Ukraine has rejected Russia’s claims. A Ukrainian spokesman said Soledar was not yet fully under Russian control, but the conflict was occurring in the city. Ukraine’s president has also said Russia has not taken control of Soledar. At the same time, it has also been claimed that 100 Russian soldiers were killed in a major attack by Ukrainian forces near Soledar.

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