MOSCOW, January 11. /TASS/. Taking Soledar under control makes it possible to advance toward Slavyansk and Kramatorsk and paves the way for liberating the entire Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), acting DPR leader Denis Pushilin told the Soloviev Live TV program on Wednesday.

"The liberation of Soledar has ramped up the potential to liberate Artyomovsk and Seversk," he said. "First, this would deal another blow to the symbols of [invincibility] that have been inflated by Ukrainian propaganda. Second, this provides a welcome bridgehead to advance toward Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. In fact, this paves the way for a turning point in liberating the entire DPR," he specified.

According to Pushilin, Russian forces will be able to break the Ukrainian line of defense in the DPR as soon as they take Artyomovsk and Seversk under control, too. "We will effectively destroy the frontline by taking Soledar, Artyomovsk and Seversk under control. This would enable us to flank [the Ukrainian armed forces] to advance toward Gorlovka and Slavyansk where we could perhaps get around the back of them," Pushilin added. At a certain stage and with well-organized cooperation, the frontline the enemy has long been reinforcing could collapse, he predicted.

Last night, Russia’s Wagner private military company quoted its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin as saying on Telegram that the city of Soledar, the scene of intense fighting in the past few days, has been taken under control by Wagner’s units.