On the night of January 11, Yevgeny Prigozhin announced that Soledar had fallen under Russian control.
He asserted that divisions of PMC Wagner had secured the entire Soledar area, creating a central cauldron where the fiercest city battles had taken place. Prigozhin said the number of Ukrainian detainees would be disclosed the following day and emphasized that only Wagner PMC fighters participated in the assault on Soledar.
The businessman’s press service indicated that the detainee count would be announced on January 11.
Denis Pushilin, the acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic, confirmed the change of hands. He claimed Russian forces had seized the initiative from the Ukrainian military in the Donbass region. Pushilin told RIA Novosti that Soledar’s headquarters were under Wagner control and that troops were stationed on both sides of the city, with the fighters already pressing forward effectively.
Pushilin also said the Russian army was advancing with strong momentum and that Ukrainian forces had sustained significant losses. He attributed the advance to higher morale among Russian personnel, which he believed enabled tangible results.
Earlier, Pushilin had stated that after Soledar, Artemovsk would be liberated, followed by Seversk, where strong fortifications remained. He indicated that Russian efforts would then turn toward Kramatorsk and Slavyansk.
During a January 11 broadcast, Solovyov described the capture of Soledar as a turning point, saying preparations were underway for the liberation of the Donetsk People’s Republic. He suggested that the front line would be broken after Soledar, Artemovsk, and Seversk fell, and added that Maryinka had nearly come under Russian control, though hostile forces held strategic positions in the suburb’s residential areas. According to Pushilin, this would influence the timing of the military deal being discussed.
military flight
Before news of Soledar’s advancement broke, Aleksey Arestovich, a top adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, had stated that Ukrainian forces had withdrawn from the city. Mark Feigin, writing on his YouTube channel (listed as a foreign agent in Russia), noted that some units pulled back while neighboring units grew frustrated, prompting a Russian response.
Feigin observed that Russian forces had occupied only the eastern outskirts of Soledar and had brought the Bakhmut–Soledar highway under fire control, hindering movement for Ukrainian vehicles and complicating supplies to the city. An adviser from Zelensky’s office conceded that even a decision to withdraw would not alter the broader course of the war.
“Fighting Bravely”
Early on January 10, Prigozhin asserted that reports of large-scale desertion among Ukrainian forces in Soledar were false, saying the Ukrainian army was fighting with resolve for Bakhmut and Soledar. He quoted his press service denying widespread defections and praising Ukrainian troops for defending Soledar valiantly.
On January 9, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Defense Anna Malyar stated that Russian forces had launched an attack on Soledar in the DPR. She described a regrouping by Russian forces after an initial unsuccessful attempt, followed by renewed assaults. Wagner forces and artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, and mortars were cited as participating on the Russian side.