It's now official, Kiev has admitted to another major loss.
After months of heavy fighting, including over the past weeks, the Armed Forces of Ukraine left [Soledar] and retreated along the outskirts to pre-prepared positions,” Ukrainian military spokesman Sergey Cherevaty.
Meanwhile CNN has this to say.
Russia said Friday its forces had taken the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine following weeks of fierce fighting, in what would be Moscow's first notable victory in months, although Ukraine denied the claim.
www.cnn.com
That makes 2 of the 4 lines of defense the Ukrainians had in place, 1 to go and they will be under attack from 3 directions at once...
Not looking good, not lookin good at all.
The defensive line, which ran roughly from Severodonetsk and Lysychansk to Popasna, was broken in the summer by Russian forces. Russia achieved a major breakthrough at Popasna and was able to begin the full rollup of this line, with Lysychansk falling at the beginning of July.
The capture of Soledar by Wagner forces has severed the connection between Bakhmut and Siversk, while around Donetsk, the heavily fortified suburb of Marinka has been almost completely cleared of Ukrainian troops, and the infamous keystone Ukrainian position in Avdiivka (the place from which they shell Donetsk city’s civilian population) is being flanked from both directions.
These positions are absolutely critical for Ukraine to hold. The loss of Bakhmut will mean the collapse of the last defensive line standing in the way of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk, which means Ukraine’s eastern position will rapidly contract to its fourth (and weakest) defensive belt.
Wait, our tanks will change the tide of the war? I thought the Ukraine was winning. ROFLMA0
