MOSCOW (Dispatches) - Russia’s defense ministry has said that Moscow’s forces seized control of the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar late, after weeks of intense fighting.
“The capture of Soledar was made possible by the constant bombardment of the enemy by assault and army aviation, missile forces and artillery of a grouping of Russian forces,” the ministry said on Friday.
Control of the eastern salt-mining town would allow Russia to cut off Ukraine’s “supply lines” in the nearby, strategically important city of Bakhmut and then “block and encircle the Ukrainian units there”, said the ministry.
Ukrainian officials cited by Reuters denied Moscow’s claim.
“The town is not under Russian control,” the spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command told the news agency.
If Soledar has fallen, it would mark a military success for the Kremlin after a series of battlefield setbacks.
The loss of Soledar would put “huge pressure” on Bakhmut, 10km (6.2 miles) south of the town, said Stratford.
For days, Kiev has said its soldiers were holding out in Soledar, in what has become one of the bloodiest battlefields of the entire war.
“This is a difficult phase of the war, but we will win. There is no doubt,” Ukrainian deputy defense minister Hanna Malyar wrote earlier on the Telegram messaging app.
Battles have been ongoing “since the truce that was announced by the Russians on the day of Orthodox Christmas”, he said.
Russian foreign ministry official has said that Belarus may enter the Ukrainian conflict if Kiev decides to “invade” either Belarus or Russia.
In an interview with state media aired on Friday, Aleksey Polishchuk said that looming Russian military drills with Belarus were designed to prevent escalation, but warned there was potential for Moscow’s closest ally to join the war effort.
“From a legal point of view, the use of military force by the Kyiv regime or the invasion of the territory of Belarus or Russia by the armed forces of Ukraine are sufficient grounds for a collective response,” Polishchuk told the state-owned TASS news agency.
The two countries have since agreed to intensify their military cooperation and plan to hold joint aviation exercises in Belarus next week.
The drills have fuelled speculation that Moscow could use its close ally to launch a new offensive on Ukraine from the north in the near future, opening up a new front.
But Ukrainian officials talked down the prospect of an attack from Belarus linked to the upcoming exercises.
“I would not associate these exercises of the air force, which will be on the territory of Belarus, with massive missile strikes,” Serhiy Popko, the head of the Kiev military administration, said on Friday.