HUNDREDS of Ukrainian civilians remain trapped in the small town of Soledar as Putin’s forces continue their bombardment.
The city, about 16 km from Bakhmut, has been the subject of massive clashes between Russian and Ukrainian forces in recent days.
According to Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, 559 civilians, plus 15 children, remain trapped in the devastated city as Putin’s forces advance.
Ukrainian officials said the country’s troops were “holding on,” despite reports of more than 91 missile movements in the past day.
“The fight is fierce in Soledar’s direction. [The Russians] are on their own corpses,” Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said Thursday.
Read our blog about the war in Ukraine below for the latest news. . .
The Russian mercenary group, Wagner, claimed to have discovered the frame of one of the two missing British workers.
The Foreign Office said it supported the families of Andrew Bagshaw, 48, and Chris Parry, 28, but verified that claim.
A Kremlin spokesman denied Russia’s allegations about two British citizens missing in Ukraine.
“We know from the media that we are talking about British citizens who were militants, participated in hostilities with weapons in hand. It turns out that documents were discovered on the battlefield,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
The two men, Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry, reportedly traveled to Ukraine to contribute to the humanitarian effort.
The Kremlin “has no information” about the two men.
Throughout Thursday, President Zelensky held talks with a number of world leaders.
Speaking to Twitter, the Ukrainian firm had a “fruitful” verbal exchange with Kenyan William Samoei Ruto.
Zelensky also held talks with Luxembourg’s Xavier Bettel as he searches for more foreigners for Ukraine.
Ukraine made its first advance in the town of Soledar in several days.
The Ukrainian army revealed that it had carried out a counterattack in the small town, picking up a number of key points.
“After several days of withdrawal, we have even made a small breakthrough,” Ukraine’s 46th Airmobile Brigade said on Telegram.
“The exercise station is ours. The mine is ours. We look forward to support. Soledar is Ukraine.
Ukraine’s defense minister took to Twitter to accuse Russia of deporting and imprisoning thousands of children.
Oleksii Reznikov wrote: “Thousands of young Ukrainians are deported, forcibly transferred and imprisoned from the temporarily occupied territories.
“The policy of the Russian state, adding adoption, genocidal attempt opposed to Ukrainians and our future. “
The tweet component of a series of posts describing all war crimes committed through the Kremlin in Ukraine.
The Ukrainian town of Soledar, located on the outskirts of Bakhmut, has been the target of more than 90 missile movements in the past day.
According to Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, Russia continued to boost its merit in the city, reaching 91 times.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force warned that Belarus could launch missile movements against the country.
Belarus and Russia are close allies, with the Kremlin educating its infantrymen there.
Yurii Ihnat said on Thursday: “The territory of Belarus has been used by Russian troops to conduct safe maneuvers, deploy an aviation organization of the Russian Aerospace Forces, special aircraft providing radar support, etc.
“Therefore, the risk remains. “
President Zelensky pledged to supply the besieged city of Soledar “quickly and without interruption. “
The small town, located about 10 km from Bakhmut, was almost destroyed by Russian attacks.
This morning, Russian officials claimed to have discovered the body of a missing British citizen near the city.
According to a new report by Al Jazeera, the town of Soledar, near Bakhmut, suffered heavy shelling today.
One of the publication’s journalists, Charles Staford, described the scene.
Speaking earlier in the day, he said, “In the last few minutes we’ve also heard gunfire from heavy weapons,” Stratford said.
“There is also a [Ukrainian] checkpoint very close to us, where we were prevented from going beyond Bakhmut. It’s as if they let the army through. “
Russia has imposed sanctions on 36 British citizens, the BBC’s Russian reported.
The sanctions were imposed on members of the British government, members of security and enforcement agencies and journalists.
The Foreign Office said the resolution is due to the British government’s “anti-Russian course, which continues to actively implement the mechanism of non-public sanctions and carries out an extensive propaganda crusade to discredit our country and isolate it on the foreign stage. “
Satellite photographs of the Ukrainian town of Soledar show the devastation Putin’s invasion has wreaked on the region.
The images, published by Maxar Technologies and shared by Kyiv Independent, show almost every house in the small town devastated by Russian attacks.
Earlier this week, President Zelensky bluntly said that “there are no more walls” in Soledar.
A Russian-backed official in Ukraine’s Donetsk region said “pockets of resistance” remained as Putin’s forces tried to take the city.
Andrei Bayevsky said: “At this time there is a small resistance wallet in Soledar.
“Our guys keep pushing the enemy to those places. Overall, the operation is going well and the western outskirts of Soledar are already under our control. “
Speaking to Instagram today, President Zelensky presented a rallying cry for his troops.
He shared a series of photographs showing the destruction Russia has inflicted on Ukraine.
The president wrote: “We have nothing.
“He took away from us. Ukraine did not lose its sons and daughters, they were taken away by the murderers. “
“Ukrainians lost their homes, they were destroyed by terrorists. The world has lost peace, Russia has destroyed it. “
A senior German official said the country will not stand in the way of offering military aid to Ukraine.
“Germany deserves not to prevent other countries from making decisions about Ukraine, regardless of decisions made through Germany,” German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck said.
This comes as Poland continues its efforts to ship German-made tanks to Ukraine.
The Ministry of Defense provided the latest defense intelligence update related to the scenario in Ukraine.
Take a look at the map below.
Ukraine’s armed forces claimed Russia had lost another 430 in the past 24 hours.
Russian losses have now reached 113,390 since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Marsel Kandarov, 24, was jailed for five years after refusing to take part in Putin’s brutal invasion, The Guardian reports.
Kandarov, who was due to apply for the paintings in May 2022, refused to apply because he “didn’t need to participate” in Putin’s war.
Today, a Russian court in the city of Ufa found that Kandarov is guilty of escaping military service.
A Kremlin spokesman denied Russia’s allegations about two British citizens missing in Ukraine.
“We know from the media that we are talking about British citizens who were militants, participated in hostilities with weapons in hand. It turns out that documents were discovered on the battlefield,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
The two men, Andrew Bagshaw and Christopher Parry, reportedly traveled to Ukraine to contribute to the humanitarian effort.
The Kremlin “has no information” about the two men.
The ministry claimed that Russia had “assigned elements of the 76th Guards Air Landing Division” to the Kremina front line.
The ministry tweeted: “Over the past two days, heavy fighting continued around the city of Soledar in Donetsk Oblast and on the outskirts of Kremina in Luhansk Oblast.
“Since the beginning of January 2023, Russia has almost assigned elements of the 76th Guards Air Landing Division of the VDV (Airborne Forces) to the Kremina front line after assessing that the domain is particularly vulnerable.
“Until November 2022, Russia has committed almost all deployable VDV as long-term floor troops along the front line in the Kherson region.
“Now redeployed in Donbass and southern Ukraine, commanders are probably looking to employ the VDV more in line with its intended doctrinal function as an elite immediate reaction force. “
Shocking footage shows mercenaries taking the canopy while the Ukrainians use a drone to locate their positions.
Machine gun fire falls on them as they try to hide as they move through a sorting yard.
Explosions erupt when the unit is “annihilated” in the brutal battle.
Former intelligence officer Philip Ingram claimed that the head of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is a “potential successor” to Vladimir Putin.
Speaking to Sky News, he said: “He, he wasn’t replaced, but someone placed him above him, and that Gerasimov. Now, Gerasimov. . . it is the equivalent of the Chief of the Defence Staff in British terms. “
“He is a wonderful best friend of Putin, he played a role in drawing up plans, a leading role since drawing up the plans for the Chechen wars in 1999 and again instrumental in the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and this special army operation.
“Surovikin, who was the commander of all operations in Ukraine, demoted one of his 3 deputies.
“But there’s a wild card in all of this, and the joker is Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is the head of Operation Wagner. It is his troops who are in all the fighting we hear around Bakhmut and Soledar.
“But he has a direct connection to Vladimir Putin. He should, strictly speaking, paint under the army chain of command, but it turns out he’s doing his own thing. “
“It’s taking over in many other areas. He would also be a possible successor to Putin if that were so, and he has blatantly criticized [Defense Minister] Sergei Shoigu and Gerasimov. “
Fighting continues in Soledar as Russian and Ukrainian forces continue towards the city.
Andrei Bayevsky, a local politician in Russia, said: “Right now there is still a small portfolio of resistance in Soledar.
“Our guys keep pushing the enemy to those places. Overall, the operation is going well and the western outskirts of Soledar are already under our control. “
Putin gave the impression of suffering as he rubbed his hand while criticizing his deputy prime minister for Russia’s humiliation in Ukraine.
Rumors persisted that Putin, 70, is “seriously ill” and has received treatment.
Explosive spy documents leaked to The Sun appear to verify that he has early-stage pancreatic cancer and Parkinson’s disease.
New footage released by the Kremlin shows the tyrant constantly rubbing his back with his right hand in a virtual assembly with Russian government officials.
Ukraine’s armed forces claimed Russia had lost another 430 in the past 24 hours.
Russian losses have now reached 113,390 since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian police said the two men left the city of Kramatorsk for the city of Soledar on Friday morning and were reported missing Saturday night after losing contact with them.
A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: “We, the families of two British men missing in Ukraine.
“We have the latest data and are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities. “
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