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Something a bit strange is going on in Soledar, either AFU decided to not retreat during the night after all or some units didn't get the message or something. There are still some defenders left and they are dangerously close to being encircled judging from Russian movements.
Western media is already calling it.
As a follow up to this,

You might have also heard Prigozhin the Wagner boss had this to say yesterday:
A number I see thrown around is 500 in the encirclement. Prigozhin apparently issued an ultimatium to those in the encirclement but we don't know what the status of that is. Twitter is full of people who both say it's accepted and rejected.The entire territory of Soledar has been taken under control — Prigozhin
Units of PMC "Wagner" took control of the entire territory of Soledar. In addition, a cauldron was formed in the center of the city, in which the remains of the UAF militants are located. According to Prigozhin, the number of prisoners will be announced tomorrow.
Russian forces have not captured the entirety of Soledar despite several false Russian claims that the city has fallen and that Bakhmut risks imminent encirclement. Several Russian sources claimed that Wagner Group forces advanced into the west of Soledar on January 10.[18] Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin refuted these claims, remarking that Wagner Group forces are still fighting against concerted Ukrainian resistance.[19] ISW has only observed visual confirmation of Wagner Group forces in central Soledar as of January 10.[20] The reality of block-by-block control of terrain in Soledar is obfuscated by the dynamic nature of urban combat, however, and Russian forces have largely struggled to make significant tactical gains in the Soledar area for months. Even taking the most generous Russian claims at face value, the capture of Soledar would not portend an immediate encirclement of Bakhmut. Control of Soledar will not necessarily allow Russian forces to exert control over critical Ukrainian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) into Bakhmut, as ISW has previously assessed.[21]
This is of interest to me because I think looking at how AFU conducts an retreat when the cards are down will tell us a lot about their current status. I'm watching closely how this encirclement thing will turn out.
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