Russian President Vladimir Putin estimated that the military campaign in Ukraine continues a “positive dynamic” after the announcement of the seizure of the city of Soledar, still denied by Kyiv.
“The dynamics are positive and everything is going according to the plans of the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff. I hope that our fighters will continue to delight us more than once with their military results,” he said in an interview with Russian state television, which was aired on Sunday.
At least 21 Ukrainians killed in an attack on a building in Dnipro
Asked on the runway of an airport, near the Russian presidential plane, he answered a question from a journalist from the Rossia-1 channel about the “news coming from Soledar”, which the Russian army claimed this Friday to have conquered.
The seizure of this modest town was presented in Moscow as a victory, after six months of disappointment, particularly with the withdrawal from the Kharkiv region and the large city of Kherson in the face of Ukrainian counteroffensives.
According to the Russian army, the conquest of Soledar, where there are important salt mines that could theoretically allow it to protect equipment and infiltrate behind enemy lines, is a step to encircle the neighboring city of Bakhmout, which Moscow has been trying to conquer for months.
Therefore, uncertainty remains about the fate of Soledar. After 325 days of war in Ukraine, kyiv reaffirmed this Saturday that this small eastern city has not yet fallen into Russian hands.
A new wave of shelling hit several cities and sites in Ukraine on Saturday, including a residential building in Dnipro. According to the town hall on Sunday, at least 21 people – including a child – were killed in the shelling of this building and 72 people were injured. Another 43 are also missing.
Source: BFM TV
