Russia Ukraine war update

As Moscow's forces advance, Russia and Ukraine continue to dispute control of the salt-mining town of Soledar amid scenes of devastation and fierce fighting on the front line in eastern Ukraine.

Russia has made multiple claims of control in the past week that have been contested by Ukrainian officials, who maintain their forces have not left the town and continue to fight. Russia's Defense Ministry claimed on January 13 to have seized Soledar, but the statement was quickly disputed by Kyiv, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy saying the fight for the town and others "in the east of our country continues."

RFE/RL could not verify the situation independently, but multiple reports by Russian war correspondents and bloggers who have shown their geolocations via the messaging platform Telegram suggest Russian forces have taken nearly all of Soledar. Ukrainian forces, however, appear to still hold ground on the northwest edge of the town, with Ukraine's 46th Air Assault Brigade saying fighters were surrounded but fighting back.

Speaking to Current Time, a Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, Volodymyr Nazarenko, the deputy commander of a battalion in the Ukrainian National Guard, said heavy fighting in Soledar has already destroyed much of the town and the surrounding area but Ukrainian forces were determined to "knock out" the Russians from their positions.