CNN: Situation in eastern Soledar is critical with escalating death toll

The situation in Soledar, Donetsk region, is critical at the moment, and the number of dead is so high that "no one is counting them."

CNN, which spoke with a serviceman of the 46th Airmobile Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reports.

For security reasons, the publication does not mention the soldier's name.

The fighter described a dynamic battlefield where buildings change hands daily, and units cannot keep up with the rising death toll.

"No one will tell you how many dead and wounded there are because no one knows for sure. Not a single person. Not at the headquarters. Not anywhere. Positions are being taken and re-taken constantly. What was our house today becomes Wagner's the next day. In Soledar, no one counts the dead," he said.

According to the military, Ukrainians lost many service members in Soledar. However, their ranks are replenished as the battle for the city continues.

"The personnel of our units has been renewed by almost half, more or less. We do not even have time to memorize each other's call signs [when new personnel arrives]," the soldier added.

According to the Ukrainian soldier, as of the evening of January 10, it was unclear which part of the city was held by the russians.

"No one can definitely say who moved where and who holds what because no one knows for sure. There is a huge grey area in the city that everyone claims to control, [but] it's just an empty hype," he said.

On Tuesday, the 46th air mobile brigade said on its Telegram channel that the situation in Soledar was "very difficult but manageable." 

The soldier said that he believed Ukraine's military leaders would eventually abandon the fight for Soledar and questioned why they hadn't done this yet. "Everyone understands that the city will be abandoned. Everyone understands this," he said. "I want to understand the point [in fighting house to house]. Why die if we are going to leave it anyway, today or tomorrow?"

In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the brigade's soldiers "for their bravery and steadfastness in defending Soledar."

We will remind you that on January 9, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Soledar, Donetsk Region, have won additional time and additional forces for Ukraine.

On the evening of January 10, the spokesman of the Eastern Group of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Serhii Cherevatyi, reported that Ukraine's Defense Forces are working on exhausting the russian troops near Soledar in the Bakhmut direction to the maximum so that even minimal successes of the enemy become his defeat.

In her turn, the Deputy Minister of Defense, Hanna Maliar, emphasized in the evening of January 10 that heavy battles are ongoing for holding Soledar in the Donetsk region, and the enemy is storming the city, despite heavy losses.