Yevgeny Prigozhin told the media, as reported by RT, that his private military company, the Wagner Group, now controlled the “entire territory,” except for an encircled group of Ukrainian soldiers. “There is a cauldron in the center of town, where urban fighting is taking place. We’ll announce the number of prisoners tomorrow.”
RT explained that Soledar, named after its salt mines, had been turned into a Ukrainian army strongpoint after the army had been pushed out of Popasnaya in mid-2022. RT cites Ukrainian President Zelenskyy’s vow on Jan. 8 that Ukrainian troops would continue to hold in Soledar “no matter what"—and that, apparently, is what they have done.