Europe 1 with AFP 08:30, January 14, 2023
On the 324th day of the conflict in Ukraine, uncertainty remains over the fate of Soledar, the small town in the east of the country which Russia assured on Friday that it had taken control after a fierce battle, an announcement denied by kyiv.
"The fighting for Soledar continues," said the Ukrainian general staff in its evening report without further details.
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In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the "liberation of the town of Soledar" had been completed "on January 12 in the evening".
In a rare sign of recognition between these two structures which have often entered into rivalry on the ground in Ukraine, the Russian army then hailed in a message the "courageous actions" of the fighters of the Wagner mercenary group, whose men carried out "the direct assault on the residential areas of Soledar".
Spokesman for the Ukrainian army's Eastern Command, Sergiy Tcherevaty, said during the day that his troops were keeping the situation "under control in difficult conditions" in the face of "the best units (of the Russian mercenary group) Wagner and 'other Russian special forces'.
The main information to remember:
kyiv continues to deny the Russian capture of Soledar, a small town in eastern Ukraine near Bakhmout
Ukraine has again called on its Western allies to provide it with more weapons to deal with the Russian army
Ukrainian Defense Ministry describes 'difficult phase' of conflict
"This is a difficult phase of the war," said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar, recognizing "a high-intensity (Russian) offensive".
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a body based in the United States, the capture of Soledar, a small town of about 10,000 inhabitants before the conflict, is however "unlikely to portend an imminent encirclement of Bakhmout", the main target of the Russian army, located 15 kilometers south-west of Soledar.
It "will not allow Russian forces to exercise control over the important Ukrainian land lines of communication to Bakhmout", he noted in his daily bulletin.
Fighting in and around Soledar has been raging for several months, but its intensity has increased sharply in recent days.
On Wednesday, the head of Wagner, Evguéni Prigojine, had already claimed the capture of Soledar with his men, before being contradicted not only by kyiv, but also by the Russian army.
In its daily bulletin, the ISW had indicated that it believed that "Russian forces (in reality) probably captured Soledar on January 11", or Wednesday.
In support of its remarks, the ISW referred in particular to "geotagged photos published on January 11 and 12" which "indicate that Russian forces probably control most if not all of Soledar and have probably pushed Ukrainian forces out of the western outskirts of the locality".
In Siversk, 25 km north of Soledar, the sounds of artillery echoed Friday.
In the streets covered with a fine layer of snow, only a few inhabitants and soldiers were strolling, by an icy wind.
"We are scared but where can we go?" asks Oleksandre Sirenko, 55, busy recovering pieces of windows to use as firewood.
"We just hope that (the Ukrainian army) won't back down," he told AFP.
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kyiv again calls on its allies to provide arms
To face the Russian army, kyiv has again called on its Western allies to provide it with more weapons and high-performance military equipment.
"To win this war, we need more military equipment, heavy equipment," Andriy Iermak, chief of staff of the Ukrainian presidency, urged on Telegram, as Ukraine tirelessly calls for heavy tanks as well as long-range missiles.
Ukraine said on Friday that it had become a "de facto" member of NATO.
"It's true. It's a fact," Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov told the BBC.
"I am sure that in the near future we will become a member of NATO, de jure," he continued, echoing kyiv's formal request on this subject.
The Alliance announced on Friday the deployment of Awacs surveillance planes to Romania from Tuesday to support its reinforced presence in the region and "monitor Russian military activity".
Visiting the United States, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida assured Friday that his country's participation in the measures against Russia had "renewed the fight against Russian aggression in Ukraine, moving it from a transatlantic struggle to a world struggle".
The UN Security Council met again to discuss the situation in Ukraine on Friday, nearly eleven months after the start of the Russian invasion.
"Ukraine, Russia, the world cannot afford for this war to continue," said UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo.
But "it is military logic that dominates, with very little space for dialogue at the moment, if there is any," she added, seeing "no sign of an end to the fighting".