Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the situation in the hotly contested town of Soledar in the eastern Donetsk region as still highly tense. “It’s very difficult: there are almost no intact walls left there,” Zelenskyy said in his video message late on Monday, looking at Ukrainian soldiers in the heavily damaged city.
At the same time, he assured: “Even if the occupiers have now concentrated their greatest efforts on Soledar, the result of this difficult and prolonged struggle will be the liberation of all our Donbass”. all army time, said Zelenskyy. “The battle for Donbass continues.”
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar also reported on recent heavy Russian attacks on the city. Soledar, together with neighboring Bakhmut, forms part of the Ukrainian defensive wall in front of the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk conurbation.