Donetsk, Jan 13 — DAN. Soledar has been fully liberated from Ukrainian troops, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.
“The liberation of the town of Soledar was completed in the evening of January 12. The town has a strategic significance for further successful offensive on the Donetsk axis, ” Konashenkov said. “Full control of Soledar will help cut off the supply lines to Ukrainian troops in Artyomovsk located in the southwest, and then block and encircle the Ukrainian army units staying in the town.”
The town was taken thanks to continuous fire delivered at the enemy by warplanes, missile troops and artillery, he said adding that concentrated attacks on Ukrainian army positions prevented the enemy from moving manpower, reserves or ammunition to other defense lines.
Soledar is a small town in the north of the DPR. It is located next to Artyomovsk, a key Ukrainian army stronghold in Donbass. Reports on Thursday said that Russian airborne troops had blocked the town in the north and in the south, assault teams engaged the enemy in urban combat and aerospace forces delivered strikes at enemy fortified points. The town accommodates the Artyomsol company, the largest salt producer in Central and Eastern Europe.*jk