Officials in Kyiv have denied Russian claims that Ukrainian troops in the flashpoint town of Soledar have been surrounded by advancing Russian forces.
“The town [Soledar] is not under the control of the Russian Federation,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military’s Eastern Command, said in televised remarks on Jan. 11.
“There are fierce battles going on now,” Cherevatyi said, adding that the situation on the frontline was “complicated.”
The spokesman’s assertions, however, contrasted sharply with battlefield reports emanating from Moscow.
According to Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, Russian airborne units have surrounded Soledar–from north and south–and have hemmed in Ukrainian troops that are still in the town.
On Jan. 10, the British Defense Ministry admitted in an intelligence update that Russian forces had made “tactical advances” in Soledar and were “likely in control of most of the settlement.”
Known for its expansive salt mines, Soledar sits roughly 5 miles northeast of Bakhmut, a vital transport hub that Kyiv relies upon to resupply its forces along the eastern front.
Both towns are located in the Donetsk region, which was formally annexed by Russia–along with three other regions–last September.
Ukraine and its western allies view the annexation as an illegal land-grab and have vowed to recover all four lost territories.
Fears of Encirclement
For the past several months, Bakhmut (Artyomovsk in Russian) has been the scene of fierce ground fighting, with few territorial gains achieved by either side.Russian forces deployed in the area include elements of the Donetsk People’s Militia and the Wagner Group, a paramilitary organization directed by the Kremlin.
Amid mounting reports of Russian breakthroughs in Soledar, Kyiv has reportedly been transferring troops from the southern front to the combat zones in Donetsk.
On Jan. 11, the Russian Defense Ministry also claimed that the town of Pidhorodne, located to the immediate southwest of Soledar, had been captured.
“Russian troops have liberated the community of Pidhorodne … as a result of successful offensive operations,” Konashenkov told reporters.
The Epoch Times was unable to verify the assertion.
Pidhorodne sits at the midway point between Soledar and Bakhmut, prompting fears that the latter may soon be encircled by Russian forces.
Military analysts say the fall of Bakhmut would severely disrupt Ukrainian supply lines to the eastern front.
It would also pave the way for a Russian advance on the towns of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, key Ukrainian strongholds to the northwest.
Meeting in Ankara Yields Prisoner Swap
Despite the ongoing fighting in Donetsk, Russian and Ukrainian officials met in Ankara on Jan. 11, where they agreed on the terms of a prisoner swap.The deal, which involves the exchange of 40 prisoners, was clinched at a meeting between Tatyana Moskalkova, Russia’s human rights commissioner, and her Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Lubinets.
While in Ankara, Moskalkova also reportedly called on Turkey to end its longstanding policy of supplying Ukraine with Bayraktar combat drones, which have been used on the battlefield against Russian forces.
In a subsequent Telegram post, Moskalkova said she had asked Mustafa Sentop, the speaker of Turkey’s parliament, to halt weapons supplies to Ukraine “to avoid further escalation.”
Despite its membership in NATO, Turkey maintains good relations with Russia and has sought to play a mediating role in the conflict, now in its 10th month.
Last summer, Turkey brokered a landmark agreement between the warring sides that allowed Ukraine to continue shipping grain exports through the Black Sea.
In mid-November, Ankara hosted a closed-door meeting between U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns and Sergei Naryshkin, the head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service.
In a related development, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov addressed a recent report in Foreign Policy magazine that claimed Turkey was supplying Ukraine with proscribed cluster munitions.
When asked about the veracity of the report, which cited unnamed officials to support its claims, Peskov said it was “hard to say.”
“The number of fake reports exceeds the volume of truthful information,” he told reporters on Jan. 11. “But we’re closely monitoring all this.”
Ankara, for its part, has yet to comment on the report’s claims.
