Ukraine says its troops are facing Russian forces in Soledar, and more than 500 civilians, including children, are trapped in the small eastern salt mining town.

The latest on the war in Ukraine, day 324:

07:40 A close aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed on Friday to confiscate the property and assets of Russians who discredit the country’s armed forces and oppose the war in Ukraine.

The speaker of the Russian Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, called the current measures, such as fines for those who oppose the “special operation” in Ukraine, not tough enough (Reuters).

07:11 Soledar Salt Mines: A Fortress That Could Be Crucial to Russia in the Ukrainian War.

07:03Can Wagner’s militia still bring victory to Putin? “It’s the calm before the storm”

06:41 The appointment of a new leader of the invasion of Ukraine reflects “systemic challenges” for Russia, the Pentagon said

00:40It is reported that more than 100 Russian soldiers died in Soledar on Thursday

A brief summary of recent events

• Wagner’s troops claim to have captured Soledar after intense fighting that, according to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s company of mercenaries, left the town littered with dead Ukrainian troops. Moscow, however, refrained from officially declaring victory in the city. Ukraine acknowledged that the Russians had advanced, adding that fighting was still ongoing in Soledar.
• Taking Soledar, which had a population of 10,000 before the war, would be Moscow’s most significant victory since its series of retreats through much of the second half of 2022.
• The Russian invasion, Europe’s largest land war since World War II, has resulted in more than 50,000 cases of alleged war crimes, Ukraine’s chief war crimes prosecutor, Yurii Belousov, said.
• A senior lawmaker has said that Russia may raise the age limit for conscription as early as this spring as part of Moscow’s plans to increase the number of Russian troops by 30 percent.
• The commander of the Russian ground forces visited Belarus to inspect the United Military Forces stationed there. At the moment, Ukraine’s northwestern border with Belarus is a zone of broken banks, muddy fields and swampy fields, so a Russian attack in the near future seems unlikely.
• Russian state budget revenues from oil taxes fell to 511.7 billion rubles ($7.6 billion) in December, the lowest level since March 2021, due to falling oil prices, according to data from the Finance Ministry. Russia’s oil revenues are falling due to price caps, a US official said
• Car sales in Russia will fall by 58.8% in 2022, the Association of European Enterprises has announced, as the local sector feels the impact of Western sanctions.
• Poland and Lithuania’s support for Ukraine could mean other countries will follow suit, Zelensky said after Poland’s president said Warsaw would provide Kiev with Leopard tanks.
• A new video posted on social media shows Ukrainian drone operators capturing a Russian soldier lying shivering in the middle of a field in a makeshift forward position.
• Vladimir Putin’s decision to appoint General Valery Gerasimov, the chief of the Russian General Staff, to lead the invasion force is significant, but it is a “poisoned chalice” for the Russian general.
• Putin became angry at a meeting in Radmin with one of his deputy prime ministers, Denys Manturov, and did not hesitate to insult him live on television, asking him “what are you making of me a fool?”

————-

• Thursday’s events surrounding the Russian invasion were broadcast LIVE on Hotnews.ro​