Commanders of companies and battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) started retreating from the town of Soledar on January 7, Ukrainian prisoners of war said.
According to RT, the Russian forces established partial control over the intersection of the E-40 Artemovsk-Soledar highway, which excluded a possibility for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to retreat. Almost 90 percent of those who were captivated in this area were mobilized from other regions. It was the captivated Ukrainian soldiers who said that company and battalion commanders of the Ukrainian army left the area on January 7 and retreated to Minkovka, 20 kilometers west of Soledar.
On January 10, it was reported that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were planning to retreat from Soledar. According to unconfirmed reports, Valery Zaluzhny, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, announced that the situation in the region was critical and insisted the Ukrainian troops should pull out from the city.
Earlier, a Ukrainian prisoner of war said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were suffering colossal losses. The military man also said that no one was paying compensations to the families of the deceased soldiers. According to him, Ukrainian commanders send soldiers "for slaughter”.