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Military operation in Ukraine

Taking 'fortress cities' like Soledar strategic, informational victory, says expert

It is reported that by liberating Soledar, Russian forces will cut off supplies for several Ukrainian alignments of forces at once

DONETSK, January 11. /TASS/. Gaining control of Soledar and other "fortress cities" is an important strategic victory, including in terms of information, military-political expert Yan Gagin told TASS on Wednesday.

"In fact, it is an important strategic victory in this theater of war. It's also an important victory in terms of information," he said.

According to Gagin, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's tactic of claiming that a "fortress city" must hold out to the end is not working. "They refused to fight to the last man. Although they buried thousands in every city: in Soledar, in Artyomovsk (Ukrainian name Bakhmut - TASS). They lost a terrible number of their own servicemen and mercenaries, scores of both American and European equipment were put out of action there," he pointed out.

Dealing with the remaining pockets of resistance of Ukrainian forces in Soledar "is a matter of time," he went on to say. "The clock is ticking," Gagin added.

By liberating Soledar, Russian forces will cut off supplies for several Ukrainian alignments of forces at once, the expert stressed. "This is a major transport hub. It is the key to the liberation of Donbass, it is the key to the liberation of territories and further offensive, since this way we are cutting off the routes for further supplies to several Ukrainian alignments of forces at once," he explained. In particular, Kramatorsk and Slavyansk open up further. "Kramatorsk and Slavyansk are also very important. First - these are the territories of the DPR, and second - these are the centers of resistance of the enemy," the expert added.

In recent months, Russian forces have been fighting for Artyomovsk, the liberation of which, as the acting head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, said earlier, will make it possible to proceed to the liberation of the northern part of the republic. Zelensky called Artyomovsk and Soledar the hottest and most distressing sections of the front for Ukrainian authorities. Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin was quoted on his press service's Telegram channel as saying on Wednesday night that Soledar had been taken under the control of the Wagner private military company.

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Military operation in Ukraine

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