Kyiv maintains its account: Soledar has not fallen and continues to fight Russian troops. At the same time, the Ukrainian government is still vehemently waiting for the Leopard main battle tanks.
Despite multiple Russian reports of victory in the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the fight for the town continues. “The tough fight for Donetsk continues,” Zelenskyy said in his video diary on Friday night. “The struggle for Bakhmut and Soledar, for Kreminna, for other cities and towns in the east of our state continues.”
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also announced on Friday night that the fight for Soledar would continue. Both the Russian military leadership and the notorious Russian mercenary troupe Wagner deployed in Soledar announced the conquest of Soledar. Above all, the Wagner paramilitary organization claimed success for itself, to which the Moscow Ministry of Defense relented and attributed the victory to the mercenary troops. “They are already fighting over who should get the credit for tactical progress,” Zelenskyy commented on the dispute. This is already a “clear sign of failure”.
If Soledar falls, however, the entire defensive line from Siwersk to Bakhmut, which Kyiv has held since July, will falter. Coupled with reports of Russian conquests in the territory south of Bakhmut, the question may arise for Ukrainian troops about how convenient it is to stay there.
According to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba, five European countries are ready to supply Kyiv with Leopard-2 main battle tanks. Only Berlin’s approval is missing, Kuleba said, as reported by “Ukrainska Prawda”. Ukraine is “half a step towards resolving the tank issue”. France initiated the discussion with the announcement of the delivery of heavy wheeled armored vehicles. After that, Poland “woke other countries” with its effort to deliver a company of leopards. After that, Finland also declared its willingness to join a European initiative and deliver Leopard tanks to Ukraine. “And I know of at least three other countries that are ready to do this, but they’re not talking about it yet,” Kuleba said. They were still waiting for “the Germans to come out and speak for it”.