Putin’s New Year’s loss tops 8,000 as Russia claims capture of Soledar

Less than two weeks into the new year, more than 8,000 more Russian soldiers have died in the war in Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.

As of January 13, 8,170 Russian troops have died, bringing the total number of casualties during the 11-month war to 114,930. On Friday alone, the ministry reported 740 deaths. On average, about 628 Russian soldiers have died per day this month.

The buzz comes on the same day that Russia boasted victory in the Battle of Soledar, a Ukrainian salt-mining town of just 10,000 people, in one of the bloodiest battles of the war.

“The city of Soledar, which is of great importance for the continuation of successful offensive operations in the direction of Donetsk, has been liberated,” the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

Russia said that taking control of the city would allow its troops to block supply routes of Ukrainian forces southwest of Artyomovsk, attributing “constant fire attacks on the enemy by ground attack and army aviation, missile troops and artillery forces of the Russian Group of Russia.” ” for the win.

The Ukrainian military was quick to deny the claim, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his troops are “protecting the state” despite Russia having concentrated its forces in Soledar.

Soledar’s strategic value has been debated by military analysts due to the city’s relatively small size. The Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said Thursday that “Russian intelligence operations have exaggerated the importance of Soledar.”

In its assessment, ISW said that capturing the city “will not allow Russian forces to assert control of critical Ukrainian ground communications lines (GLOCs) to Bakhmut, nor will it better position Russian forces to encircle the city in the short term.”

John Kirby, the White House national security spokesman, echoed these assessments, telling reporters, “Even if both Bakhmut and Soledar fall to the Russians, there will be no … there will be no strategic implications for the war itself.”

On Thursday, Soledar regional governor and head of Ukraine’s local military, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said nearly 559 civilians, including more than a dozen children, were trapped in the town and could not be moved during the battle.

“Civilians are trying to survive amid this carnage while the Russians step up their attacks,” Kyrylenko said in a televised address.