Russian Armed Forces

Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Russian parliament and a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, suggests seizing assets of Russian critics. Belarus might ...

KYIV — After months of fighting, Russia's ministry of defense claims it has captured the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar — a claim that Ukrainian military ...

While reaching Bahkmut may be Russia's goal, military experts say the fall of Soledar doesn't guarantee Bakhmut will be encircled and doesn't signify a huge turning point for the Russian military. "Bakhmut is more about politics rather than war," says Oleh Zhdanov, a Ukrainian military expert. "Russian forces, throughout the course of this war, have struggled to make operationally significant gains to such a degree that when they do start making these tactical, small-scale block-by-block advances, those stand out." But the Russian Federation can turn this into an enormous wave of propaganda." Amid days of intense fighting, there were conflicting statements on who controlled Soledar. Russia's capture of Soledar "is and isn't significant," explains Karolina Hird, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War.

Kremlin claims to have captured eastern Ukrainian town at centre of frontline fighting.

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Russia says it has captured the town after a months-long battle, but Ukraine says fighting is ongoing.

Deputy defence minister, Hanna Malyar, said fighting had been "hot in Soledar overnight". Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern military command, said Russia had sent its best mercenary fighters and other units to Soledar. But seizing Soledar would likely be hailed as a victory in Moscow after months of failures and setbacks in Russia's 10-month war.

The fighting for the salt mining town of Soledar and the nearby city of Bakhmut has highlighted a bitter rift between the Russian Defence Ministry ...

Prigozhin, meanwhile, has taken advantage of military setbacks in Ukraine to expand his clout by making the Wagner Group a pivotal element of the Russian fighting force, augmenting the regular army that has suffered a heavy attrition. But a Ukrainian missile strike on January 1 in the eastern town of Makiivka killed scores of Russian troops and tainted his image. Russian troops were forced to retreat from Kyiv after a botched attempt to capture the Ukrainian capital in the opening weeks of the war. He has found a powerful ally in Chechnya’s leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who has deployed elite troops from his southern Russian region to fight in Ukraine and also assailed the military leadership and the Kremlin for being too soft and indecisive. Mr Putin’s shake-up of the military brass this week was seen as a bid to show that the Defence Ministry still has his support and is in charge as the troubled conflict nears the 11-month mark. The fighting for the salt mining town of Soledar and the nearby city of Bakhmut has highlighted a bitter rift between the Russian Defence Ministry leadership and Yevgeny Prigozhin, a rogue millionaire whose private military force known as the Wagner Group has played an increasingly visible role in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin oversaw a reshuffle of Moscow's top military brass on Wednesday, appointing a loyalist to replace the Russian commander in ...

Gerasimov's promotion could also be "a signal for Prigozhin and other actors to reduce their criticism of the MoD." In other words, demonstrating to the West that Russia is in this for the long haul, and hoping that we will lose the will and unity to continue to support Kyiv," he said. On Tuesday, Prigozhin claimed that his military company had single-handedly taken control of Soledar in Donetsk, a key target and the site of intense clashes for months. Prigozhin praised the designation and described Surovikin — nicknamed "General Armageddon — as "the most able commander in the Russian army." Nonetheless, Prigozhin's criticism of Russia's military commanders and frequent boasts over the Wagner Group's triumphs have raised heckles in Moscow. Prigozhin has slammed defense chiefs for a series of humiliating losses and retreats during the war.

"It likely does reflect some of the systemic challenges that the Russian military has faced since the beginning of this invasion," said US Brigadier ...

In a separate war intelligence, the UK's Ministry of Defence said that Gerasimov's appointment was "a significant development in Russian President Vladimir Putin's approach to managing the war." The appointment of Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov as head of the Russian military goes to show the many challenges and shortcomings that have plagued Moscow's armed forces, US Brigadier General Pat Ryder, Pentagon's press secretary said during his White House press briefing. Russia's recent reshuffling of the military ranks in the middle of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine is a reflection of the "systemic challenges" faced by Russia's President Vladimir Putin's army, the Pentagon claimed on Thursday, Jan. "We certainly are supportive of any type of capability that will give the Ukrainians an advantage on the battlefield," Ryder meanwhile clarified. Russia replaced General Sergey Surovikin just three months into his role, restructuring the military abruptly citing the "expanded scale of the tasks." “This is a story that has it all: infighting, power struggles, jealousy,” Massicot maintained.

As Russian troops wage a ferocious house-to-house fight for control of strongholds in eastern Ukraine, a parallel battle is unfolding in the top echelons of ...

His appointment to directly lead the forces in Ukraine drew stinging comments from some Russian hawks. “He is trying to reshuffle the pieces and is therefore giving chances to those who he finds persuasive,” she wrote. Russian troops were forced to retreat from Kyiv after a botched attempt to capture the Ukrainian capital in the opening weeks of the war. 1 in the eastern town of Makiivka killed scores of Russian troops and tainted his image. In the reshuffle announced Wednesday, the Defense Ministry said the head of the General Staff, Gen. [61-year-old Prigozhin](/article/2022-midterm-elections-business-social-media-7fefa7ab0491b653f6094a4d090155fe), who was known as “Putin’s chef” for his lucrative catering contracts and was indicted in the U.S.

In a statement released on Friday afternoon, the Russian Defence Ministry said the town had been taken the previous evening. "On the evening of Jan. 12, the ...

"This is a difficult phase of the war," Hanna Malyar conceded. "On the evening of Jan. "Soledar is ours. Glory to you, simple soldiers and officers!" [relocated almost all of its main forces to the Donetsk front](../../post/11075)" to ensure Soledar's capture. Ukraine has denied Russian claims mercenary forces of the Wagner Group have "liberated" the

The first Western confirmations of a Ukrainian withdrawal from Soledar have began to come in. At approximately 0700 EST, CNN published that their reporters ...

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Moscow has made the complete capture of Donetsk its primary military objective after it claimed late last year to have annexed the region into Russia. Kyiv ...

Because we have weaponry, and the understanding of how to use it." Western countries have started to offer Kyiv advanced weaponry like the sophisticated US Patriot missile system. Polish President Andrzej Duda promised Ukraine 14 German-made Leopard battle tanks. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. "De facto, not de jure (in law). The Russian defence ministry announced it had "completed the liberation" of Soledar and that the victory would pave the way for more "successful offensive operations" in the Donetsk region.