General Staff: Ukrainian military repels Russian assaults in 2 areas in Donetsk Oblast

In a regular evening update on Jan. 24, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported that the Ukrainian military had repelled Russian assaults in the Lyman and Avdiivka areas in the eastern Donetsk Oblast.

Moscow troops are continuing their offensive operations in the Bakhmut area in the oblast, suffering “significant” losses, the General Staff added.

The front-line city of Bakhmut has been the site of the war’s fiercest fighting in recent months.

As a result of an offensive operation in January, Russian forces managed to break through Ukrainian defenses and take control of Soledar, a city just 10 kilometers northeast of Bakhmut, according to the Kyiv Independent's sources in the military. Ukraine hasn't officially confirmed the loss of Soledar.

Russia hopes to use the gain to encircle the nearby Bakhmut. But, according to the Institute for the Study of War think-tank, gaining control of Soledar will not necessarily lead to Ukraine’s swift collapse in Bakhmut.

Russia looks to capture the area as part of its larger goal of taking control of the entirety of Donetsk Oblast, which it has partly occupied since 2014.

With the loss of Soledar, Ukrainian positions in Bakhmut jeopardized

The Kyiv Independent