The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), while withdrawing from Soledar, tried to destroy local salt mines. This was announced on Sunday, January 22, by the acting head of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin.
“The enemy, retreating, was going to destroy the salt mines – they undermined communications from the inside, making it difficult to descend into the mine,” he wrote in his Telegram channel.
Despite the fact that some damage to salt mining enterprises was nevertheless caused, Pushilin assured that this was fixable. Also, according to him, over time, new residential areas will grow around the mines.
Earlier that day, an Izvestia correspondent learned that refugees from Soledar were first sent to a temporary accommodation center, and then distributed to other cities for permanent residence. The head of Shakhtyorsk, Alexander Shatov, noted that, first of all, the authorities are engaged in processing payments for pensioners, Russian passports, and are also looking for jobs.
Prior to that, on January 19, the city of Soledar was included in the area of responsibility of the administration of the city of Shakhtersk by decree of the acting head of the DPR.
The operation of Russian troops in Soledar ended on the evening of January 12. The day before, the founder of the Wagner Group, businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, announced that the city had been completely liberated from Ukrainian nationalists. Later, this information was confirmed at the headquarters of the territorial defense of the DPR.
As Denis Pushilin noted on January 18, Ukrainian troops lost thousands of people in the battles for Soledar in the Donetsk People’s Republic. According to him, the Ukrainian side itself will not be able to name the exact number of its losses.
The special operation to protect the Donbass, the beginning of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, continues. The decision was made against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to shelling by the Ukrainian military.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
