Kyiv sticks to his account: Soledar did not fall and continues to fight once morest Russian troops. At the same time, the Ukrainian government is still vociferously hoping for Leopard main battle tanks. An overview of what happened during the night and a view of the day
Despite several Russian reports of victory in the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy maintains that fighting for the town is continuing. “The hard fight for Donetsk continues,” said Zelenskyj in his daily video address on Friday evening. “The struggle for Bakhmut and Soledar, for Kreminna, for other towns and villages in the east of our state continues.”
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces also announced on Friday evening that fighting for Soledar would continue. Both the Russian military leadership and the notorious Russian mercenary troupe Wagner deployed at Soledar had announced the conquest of Soledar. Above all, the paramilitary organization Wagner claimed the success for itself, whereupon the Ministry of Defense in Moscow gave in and attributed the victory to the mercenary troop. “They are already biting each other over who should be credited with tactical progress,” Zelenskyj commented on the dispute. This is already a “clear signal of failure”.
Should Soledar fall, however, the entire defensive line from Siwersk to Bakhmut, which Kyiv has held since July, will falter. Together with the reports of Russian gains in territory south of Bakhmut, the question for the Ukrainian troops might arise as to how expedient it is to remain there. #
According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, five European countries are ready to supply Kyiv with Leopard-2 main battle tanks. Only Berlin’s approval is missing, said Kuleba on Friday evening, as reported by “Ukrainska Prawda”. Ukraine is “half a step away from solving the tank question”. France started the discussion with the announced delivery of heavy wheeled armored vehicles. After that, Poland “woke up other countries” with its push to deliver a company of leopards. After that, Finland also declared its willingness to join a European initiative and hand over Leopard tanks to Ukraine. “And I know at least three other countries that are ready to do this but are not yet talking regarding it,” said Kuleba. They were still waiting for “the Germans to come out and speak out for it”.
