OUR Ukrainian The army admitted today that it had abandoned the eastern city of Solentar two weeks after Moscow announced its takeover.

“After several months of fierce fighting (…) the Ukrainian forces abandoned it to retreat to positions they had prepared,” Serhiy Tserevati, military spokesman for the eastern zone, told AFP, declining to specify when the retreat took place.

Russian offensive also on Bakhmut

At the same time, Moscow says forces are also moving forward in Bakhmut, in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, with fighting even in urban areas.

“Quite fierce fighting continues in Bahamut. Fighting is already taking place on the outskirts (of the city) and in some areas that until recently were under the control of the enemy, ”Denis Pushilin, head of the Russian occupation forces in the region, said, according to Russian authorities.

According to him, Russian troops and mostly mercenaries of the Wagnerian paramilitary organization are “advancing” into the city. “Units, mostly Wagner, are advancing on Artyomovsk itself,” Pushilin emphasized, using the city’s Russian name.

Bakhmut, which had a population of 70,000 before the war, had been repeatedly attacked by Russian forces since the summer in the most fierce fighting of the 11 months of the war.

The city, most of which has been destroyed, is of strategic importance. Russia’s capture of Soledar, just to the north, earlier this month, “played a key role in the current advance of Russian troops in Bakhmut,” Pushilin said.

The capture of this city “made it possible to cut off the enemy’s supply routes and partially take control of the areas from which the Ukrainians attacked Russian positions,” he explained.

The head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said last night that “the goal of capturing Bakhmut is to destroy the Ukrainian army on the outskirts of the city and prevent aggressive actions from any direction.”

“All combat-ready units of the Ukrainian army have been sent to Bakhmut and Wagner is destroying them, creating opportunities in other sectors of the front,” he added.

The Ukrainian army simply confirms that Russian attacks on Bakhmut and the surrounding area are continuing.

According to APE-MPE, AFP, Reuters