Russian forces have bombed several Ukrainian towns and announce that they have captured the town of Soledar
Bombing continued in Ukraine. Russian forces launched attacks on several Ukrainian towns in the Sumy region, near the border with Russia.
The governor of the region, Dmitro Jivitski, wrote on his Telegram account that the Russians launched more than 20 mortar rounds in the area of Esman and Seredina-Buda towns, according to the Kyiv Independent. A pro-Russian official in Donetsk, Andrei Baevski, told a Russian state agency that Russian troops were in "almost total" control of the town of Soledar and that there were still "small resistance groups" of Ukrainians inside the town. "All available evidence indicates that Ukrainian forces are no longer maintaining an organized defense in Soledar. On the other hand, Russia greatly exaggerated the importance of this battle, which is at most a tactical victory «a la Pirus»", writes ISW on Twitter, in the daily assessment of the situation on the front. The phrase "victory at Pyrrhus" refers to a military victory at such great cost to the victor that it amounts almost to defeat. According to ISW, the capture of Soledar, a small town of only 15 km2, will not allow Russian forces to gain control of the lines of communication to Bahmut, nor better positions to encircle the town.
