DONETSK, January 12. /TASS/. Over 150 residents of Soledar have been evacuated to Shakhtersk in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Mayor of Shakhtersk Alexander Shatov told TASS on Thursday.

"More than 150 people from Soledar have been evacuated to our city. Basically, these are people who were not seriously affected. They receive medical care, are accommodated and provided with food," Shatov said.

According to the mayor's information, some of the evacuated said they wanted to leave for other regions of Russia. The first group of 24 people will depart on January 13.

A portion of the evacuated Soledar residents were sent to hospitals in Lugansk, Shatov specified. "We are ready to provide the able-bodied population of the city with jobs at our enterprises. We will provide everything they need," he added.

Earlier, the emergencies ministry of the Lugansk People's Republic specified that an ambulance team took a three-year-old child with frostbite from Soledar to a hospital in the city of Stakhanov (LPR).

On Wednesday night, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin reported that Soledar, where fighting has continued in recent days, was taken under the control of the Wagner private military company, and that a pocket had formed in the center of the city, where fighting was underway.

On Wednesday, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said that Russian troops had blocked Soledar from the north and south, and fighting continued in the city.

According to Andrey Bayevsky, a lawmaker at the legislature of the Donetsk People’s Republic and a colonel of the People’s Militia, Soledar is generally under Russian control while fighting with the remnants of Ukrainian forces still goes on.