Western and Russian reports said today, Tuesday, that fierce fighting is taking place in the city of Solidar in the Donbass region (eastern Ukraine), amid news of the progress of the Russian forces seeking to resolve the battle aimed at controlling the neighboring city of Bakhmut, while Moscow said that it will continue to develop the nuclear triad during the current year.

The US Department of Defense (The Pentagon) suggested that a large part of Solidar would be under the control of the Russians, indicating that intense and brutal fighting is taking place on the Solidar and Bakhmut axes in the Donetsk region, parts of which are controlled by Russia.

For its part, the British Ministry of Defense said that the Russian forces and the forces of the "Wagner" group have made tactical progress in Solidar during the last four days and are likely seeking to surround Bakhmut from the north.

The ministry added, in its daily intelligence report on developments in Ukraine, that part of the battles aims to control the entrance to an old salt mine in Solidar, because its tunnels pass under the front line and may be used to infiltrate behind enemy lines.

But the British Ministry of Defense has made it clear that there is no danger that Russia will encircle Bakhmut immediately, because the Ukrainian army has what it described as very stable defenses and controls several supply routes in the region.

The Ukrainian army confirmed that Solidar is still under its control, denying Russian statements about the fall of parts of it.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the situation in Solidar is very difficult, stressing that it and the nearby city of Bakhmut are still steadfast in the face of repeated Russian attacks.

Solidar.

City battles continue, the city center under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Prigozhin said that at the moment Wagner is fighting for the Soledar administration building.

Today, in the same location (literally 100-200 meters from the administration) pic.twitter.com/Qh1CKd1WnI

- Grahworin 🇩🇰🇺🇦 (@grahworin) January 10, 2023

Wagner describes the course of the battles

The founder of the Russian "Wagner" group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, confirmed that very fierce and bloody battles are currently taking place in the southern suburbs of Solidar.

In statements reported by his media office on the Telegram application, Prigozhin acknowledged that the Ukrainian army is fighting bravely for Solidar and Bakhmut, denying reports of a mass flight of Ukrainian soldiers from the two cities.

And Hannah Mailer, the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense, acknowledged that the Russian forces had achieved what she described as partial success in their attack yesterday, Monday, on Solidar, stressing that the city is still under the control of the Ukrainian forces, with the continuation of violent and bloody battles, as she said.

Mailer stated that the Ukrainian forces repelled a previous attempt to seize the town, noting that the Wagner Group brought in additional reinforcements and used new tactics in an effort to control the city.

The Ukrainian army confirmed that the city of Solidar has become partially destroyed as a result of the ongoing battles, pointing to its strategic importance and its location a few kilometers north of the city of Bakhmut, which is also constantly exposed to Russian attacks.

The importance of the city of Solidar

Solidar is a small town located in the industrial Donbass region, about 15 kilometers north of the city of Bakhmut, and is known for its salt mining mines.

But Solidar is about 7 times smaller than Bakhmut, and its population does not exceed 10 thousand.

And if the Russians seize it, it will be important to surround the strategic city of Bakhmut from the north, and disrupt the Ukrainian communication lines, as a strategic supply line between the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, which make up the Donbass region.


Other field developments

Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced today, Tuesday, that its forces shot down 3 Ukrainian Su-25 warplanes in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian army announced that its forces shot down two Russian "Orlan" drones, and bombed two sites of anti-aircraft missile systems.

He also said that his forces hit a Russian boat in the Dnipro River in Kherson Province (south), and during the past hours launched 21 raids on the positions of Russian forces along the front lines in Ukraine, noting that the Russian forces carried out more than 30 air raids on Monday targeting infrastructure. In the cities of Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporozhye (south), Kharkiv (northeast) and Kramatorsk (east).

development of the nuclear triad

On the other hand, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed today, Tuesday, that Russia will continue to develop what he described as the nuclear triad, and will maintain its combat readiness as a guarantor of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Shoigu told a defense ministry meeting that Russia also plans to expand its arsenal of modern offensive weapons in the near future.

Shoigu (center) said that Russia will increase the use of aviation in the enemy's new air defense operations areas (Anatolia)

He added that the armed forces will enhance drone technology and increase the use of aviation in the enemy's new air defense operations areas, stressing the need to develop plans for training and supplying equipment for the armed forces based on the experiences gained in Syria and Ukraine, as he put it.

Frigate "Admiral Gorshkov"

In a related context, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the crew of the Russian frigate "Admiral Gorshkov", loaded with supersonic "Zircon" missiles, conducted military exercises in the Norwegian Sea, noting that the exercises simulate operations to repel an air attack of a potential enemy in the Norwegian Sea under weather conditions. Difficult.

For his part, the Secretary of the Russian National Security Council, Nikolai Patrushev, said that there is a need to build a strong army and intelligence to neutralize military threats, adding that Russia's self-sufficiency annoys the West, which seeks to dismember the country, as he put it.

Simultaneously, the Kremlin said that the involvement of the United States and NATO in the war in Ukraine is clear, and that they have become de facto indirect parties to the conflict.

The Kremlin has warned that attempts to confiscate Russian assets will have consequences for all countries that try to support them.