TASS, January 15. Russian President Vladimir Putin positively assessed the dynamics of the special military operation. In an interview with the Rossiya-1 TV channel for the program ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin’, the head of state expressed the hope that Russian fighters would once again please everyone with the results of their work.

"The dynamics are positive. Everything is developing within the plan of the Defense Ministry and the General Staff. And I hope that our fighters will please us more than once again with the results of their combat work," Putin said, answering questions from journalist Pavel Zarubin.

Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov on Friday said Russian troops had liberated Soledar in the evening of January 12. He said full control over Soledar made it possible to sever supply routes of Ukrainian forces in Artyomovsk, known in Ukraine as Bakhmut, which is located to the southwest, then surround Ukrainian forces in that town.