Kyiv About ten and a half months after the Russian attack on Ukraine, fighting in the Donetsk region is particularly intense. The cities of Soledar and Bakhmut are of strategic importance: they form part of the Ukrainian defensive wall in front of the conurbation between Slovjansk and Kramatorsk. From the Russian point of view, taking the territory would be a significant step towards conquering all of Donbass – one of the Kremlin’s war goals.
In addition to regular Russian troops, several mercenary units also fight in Soledar, including the notorious Wagner Group. “The number of prisoners of war will be announced tomorrow,” Prigozhin said on one of Wagner’s Telegram channels. There it was also said that the surrounded Ukrainian soldiers were given an ultimatum to surrender at midnight. The information could not be independently verified.
There were no comments from the Ukrainian side. Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had praised Soledar supporters for their courage and firmness in his daily video message. “Thank you, warrior!” Zelenskyy said.
Earlier in the evening, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maljar reported on violent attacks by Russian troops. “The heavy fighting in defense of Soledar continues,” she said on Telegram. “Regardless of your casualties, the enemy continues to attack.” The area in front of the Ukrainian defense lines was “strewn with the bodies of the attackers”.
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More than 500 civilians left in Soledar
More than 500 civilians are currently in Soledar, as the Ukrainian military administrator of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, announced on Tuesday night. “Some of them would like to leave the city immediately, which is not possible at the moment because of the intense fighting,” he said on television. “Until there is a safe exit from the city, there will be no evacuation.”
Zelenskyy expatriates pro-Russian deputies
Ukrainian President Zelenskyi expatriates four pro-Russian lawmakers. “If the people’s representatives decide not to serve the Ukrainian people, but the murderers who came to Ukraine, then our steps will be appropriate,” the 44-year-old said in his daily video on Tuesday. According to the constitution, the expatriation was carried out on the basis of information from the SBU secret service and the migration service, Zelenskyy said. “Our services work.”
The Ukrainian passport was taken from MP Viktor Medvechuk, who came to Russia in September as part of a prisoner exchange. The other three affected are also suspects in the neighboring state. All four represented the “Opposition Platform – For Life” party, which was banned after the Russian invasion in February 2022. All four members of parliament are suspected of having Russian citizenship. Under Zelenskyi’s predecessor Petro Poroshenko and in the Soviet Union, stripping politically undesirable people of their citizenship was common practice.
Pentagon: training Ukrainians on American tanks in Grafenwoehr
Training of Ukrainian soldiers on the US-announced Bradley armored vehicles will take place at the military training area in Grafenwoehr, Bavaria. This was confirmed by Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder on Tuesday. The United States announced last week that it would also supply 50 Bradleys as part of the latest arms deliveries to Ukraine. The tanks are scheduled to arrive in Ukraine in the coming weeks, Ryder said. The Pentagon had previously announced that about 100 Ukrainian troops would be trained in the Patriot anti-aircraft system at a military base in Oklahoma starting next week.
Ukraine prepares for possible new attack on Kyiv
The Ukrainian military is preparing for a new attack by Russian ground forces from Belarus in the direction of the capital Kyiv. Defense positions in the north of the country have already been prepared or reinforced for this purpose, said Lieutenant General Oleksiy Pavlyuk, who is in charge of Kiev’s defense. In order to prevent rapid tank advances by Russian units, larger minefields were placed at all points accessible to tanks.
What will be important on Wednesday
The Ukrainian military leadership could comment on the situation in Soledar on Wednesday.