Tass agency reported that the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu, stated at a conference call that the occupying army has full control over the settlements of Soledar, Klishchiivka, Krasnopillya, Blagodatne, Mykolaivka of the Donetsk region and Pidhirne, Lobkovo, Zaporizhzhia. The Russians also mentioned the "successful" development of hostilities under Bakhmut and Vugledar. He emphasized that all the mentioned "gains" are the result of the actions of the Russian Federation.
At the same time, Shoigu deliberately did not mention that the forces of the private military company "Wagner" were actively involved in all the indicated areas for the conduct of hostilities. Instead, the regular Russian army has only an episodic role of "support forces". This information is silenced by the Russian propaganda media, which indicates the continuation of the conflict between the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation.
It should also be noted that Ukrainian troops were withdrawn from the city of Soledar on January 25, which was officially reported by the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
As for other settlements, their capture by the enemy has yet to be confirmed. Ukrainian Defense Forces continue protection in each of the mentioned directions.
We remind you that at the beginning of the current year, the military command of the aggressor state created a special document that defines exactly how Kremlin propagandists should cover the events on the battlefield. The main content of the "general recommendations" was to emphasize the "prominent role" of the leadership of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, particularly Shoigu and Gerasimov. Also, the document introduced a ban on mentioning the "Wagner" PMC and Yevgeny Prigozhin personally.