Advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine Aleksey Arestovich spoke about the situation in Soledar. He noted that the decision on whether the Ukrainian military will leave the city is made not by the Russian Federation, but by our country.
"The Armed Forces of Ukraine are not going to leave Soledar yet. But what is the most important thing that happened? In the Russian-speaking space, discussions about Soledar went on the Russian agenda. Yes, and in Ukrainian too, this is a bad sign that shows that society has not learned to think about war properly," - noted Arestovich in the interview with Mark Feygin.
He recalled that the Armed Forces of Ukraine had liberated Kherson, a large regional center, from Russians. But when the Russian Federation captures a small settlement, people begin to "sprinkle ashes on their heads."
"Let's listen to the analysis of the General Staff. They said very clearly: the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is holding Soledar, fighting is going on in it, not all, of course, but part of Soledar is being held. And we are deciding what to do with this situation further," he added. Arestovich explained that the situation is controlled by Ukraine and it decides what to do next, and not the Russian Federation.
According to the adviser, if the Armed Forces of Ukraine leave Soledar, then this will not be an escape from the encirclement. This will be a planned decision of the command, which will withdraw forces and assets from one line of defense to another.
"We are carrying out a planned action, this is not the loss of the city, when a cutting blow was suddenly delivered, but we were not ready and were surrounded … There, planned action is being carried out, and this will not be for the sake of beautiful words, not for the sake of consolation. This maneuver will be planned "Yes", under pressure from the enemy, yes, under the threat of encirclement, but planned," Arestovich said.
He recalled that the Russian Federation did not have the opportunity for planned maneuvers when the rashists fled from the Kharkiv region, when the Armed Forces of Ukraine knocked them out and the Kherson, Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Therefore, Arestovich believes that Ukrainians should not interpret the events at the front as part of the Russian propaganda agenda.
