The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said in its regular evening update on Jan. 11 that the Russian forces continue to focus their efforts on attempts to capture the eastern Donetsk Oblast by conducting an offensive in the Bakhmut area.
According to the Ukrainian military, Russia suffered significant losses while conducting an assault on Soledar, a salt-mining town about 10 kilometers north of Bakhmut, which has been the site of the fiercest fighting.
Moscow forces are trying to cut the supply routes for the Ukrainian military in the area, the General Staff said, adding that the fighting for Soledar continues.
Earlier on Jan. 11, Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, said that the Russian forces shelled the Bakhmut area 249 times over the past day. Cherevatyi reported that Soledar is not under Russian military control, nonetheless describing the situation as "difficult."
Cherevatyi also denied earlier claims that Soledar was under Moscow's control after Russian proxies in eastern Ukraine and the Kremlin-run Wagner mercenary group said late on Jan. 10 that Russia had captured the town.
In a video address on Jan. 11, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia likely made false claims about capturing Soledar to support mobilization efforts in the country and "give hope" to Russians.
"Currently, the terrorist state and its propagandists are trying to pretend that some part of our Soledar fell to Russia. They already present it to their society to support mobilization and give hope to those in favor of aggression," Zelensky said. "But the fighting continues. The Donetsk direction is holding," he added.
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