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The Ukrainian subject and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accidental claims by Russia's Vagner radical that Russian forces person taken the eastbound municipality of Soledar are mendacious and warring continues.
"The violent authorities and its propagandists are trying to unreal that portion of our municipality of Soledar...is immoderate benignant of a Russian possession," Zelenskiy said successful a video code connected January 11.
"But warring continues. The Donetsk theatre of operations is holding."
In a abstracted statement, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces besides said warring continues. The connection said successful bid to bring the full Donetsk portion nether its control, the Russian subject is attempting some to onslaught adjacent Bakhmut and to disrupt proviso routes to Soledar.
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The General Staff said earlier the Russians were suffering dense losses arsenic they tried to instrumentality the salt-mining town.
The caput of the mercenary Vagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said connected January 11 his forces had taken power of the Soledar.
"I privation to corroborate the implicit liberation and cleansing of the territory of Soledar from units of the Ukrainian Army.... Ukrainian units that did not privation to surrender were destroyed," helium said successful a statement.
Vagner forces "killed astir 500 people," helium said, adding that Soledar is littered with the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers.
Ukraine had earlier denied claims by the backstage Russian subject radical that it had taken power of the town.
"The municipality is not nether the power of the Russian Federation. There are fierce battles going connected now," Serhiy Cherevatiy, the spokesperson for the eastbound subject command, said connected Ukrainian television.
"There is simply a analyzable concern there.... The strength of battles adjacent Bakhmut tin beryllium compared with World War II," helium added.
The Russian Defense Ministry noted that paratroopers had blockaded areas northbound and southbound of Soledar, but added that warring was ongoing wrong the town.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said determination was a "positive dynamic successful advances," but rapidly added that officials shouldn't "rush" to state victory.
The Ukrainian General Staff claimed connected January 11 that Russia had mislaid astir 490 soldiers the erstwhile day. It said those casualties raised its estimated decease toll connected the Russian broadside to astir 113,000 troops.
Each broadside successful the struggle has classified its casualty figures, and RFE/RL cannot corroborate accounts by either broadside of battlefield developments successful the areas of the heaviest fighting.
Capturing Soledar and its brackish mines would person symbolic, military, and commercialized worth for Russia and would beryllium Moscow's astir important summation successful months.
Photo Gallery:
Salt Of The Earth: Deep Inside Eastern Ukraine's Massive Soledar Mines
Russian forces successful Ukraine are trying to seizure the eastbound salt-mining municipality of Soledar successful a sustained violative that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described arsenic "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar arsenic the salt-mining cognition was hoping to ace Western markets.
As the conflict for Soledar raged, Russia announced connected January 11 that it has again replaced the commandant of its forces successful Ukraine.
Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov was appointed to oversee the penetration successful a reshuffle announced by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Gerasimov replaces Sergei Surovikin, who volition go 1 Gerasimov's 3 deputies, the ministry said.
The Ukrainian General Staff said aboriginal connected January 11 that its troops had fought disconnected Russian attacks successful 3 eastbound regions.
It besides reminded Ukrainians crossed the state to beryllium alert for imaginable long-distance aerial strikes, though the gait of specified Russian bombing of civilian and infrastructure targets has eased since the monolithic bombardments astatine the extremity of December and aboriginal January.
The British Defense Ministry's regular quality appraisal connected January 11 noted the announcement of a associated Russian-Belarusian tactical formation workout successful the 2nd fractional of January.
Addressing persistent fears of a dispersed of the 10-month-old full-scale conflict, the British Defense Ministry speculated that a caller deployment of Russian craft to Ukraine's bluish neighbour Belarus "is apt a genuine exercise, alternatively than a mentation for immoderate further violative operations against Ukraine."
Russia's penetration was partially staged successful Moscow-allied Belarus, though person Alyaksandr Lukashenka has sought to downplay his regime's relation successful the conflict.
The commandant of Kyiv's defenses, Lieutenant General Oleksiy Pavlyuk, said connected January 10 that Ukraine's subject had strengthened its antiaircraft positions northbound of the metropolis and was girding for a imaginable violative from crossed the adjacent Belarusian border.
Amid the fierce warring successful the eastbound Donetsk region, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a astonishment sojourn to the eastbound Ukrainian metropolis of Kharkiv connected January 10, promising to nonstop much weapons little than a week aft Berlin pledged to nonstop infantry warring vehicles that Ukraine had been asking for.
Baerbock pledged further enactment earlier leaving Kharkiv, which was deed by Russian shelling aft she left.
"The occupiers are striking again," Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synehubov said connected Telegram, telling residents to enactment successful shelters.
Baerbock stressed that Ukrainians "should cognize they tin trust connected our solidarity and support," adding that Germany volition support supplying weapons "that Ukraine needs successful bid to escaped its citizens who are inactive suffering nether the panic of Russian occupation."
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