January 13, 2023 Russia-Ukraine news

Russian forces have taken the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, according to Russia's defense ministry – their first significant victory in months. 

Russia took control of Soledar on Thursday evening, the ministry said in a briefing on Friday.

In recent days there have been competing claims over who has control of the town amid fierce fighting.

Russia said the capture of Soledar was "important for the continuation of successful offensive operations in the Donetsk region." It added that "establishing control over Soledar makes it possible to cut off the supply routes for Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut."

The significance of Soledar in military terms is minimal. However, its capture would allow Russian forces, and especially the Wagner mercenary group, to turn their focus on nearby Bakhmut, which has been a target since the summer.

According to the Russian ministry, the capture of Soledar "became possible due to the constant destruction of the enemy by assault and army aviation, missile troops and artillery of a group of Russian forces."

The ministry made no reference to claims from private military company Wagner that its forces had taken the city by themselves. 

"Over the past three days alone, more than seven hundred Ukrainian servicemen and over three hundred units of weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have been destroyed near the city of Soledar," it said.

Some context: On Thursday, the Wagner group disparaged claims from the Russian ministry of defense that its forces were involved in the Soledar offensive.

For their part, Ukrainian officials have repeatedly contested claims that Soledar has been taken. On Friday morning, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said that fighting overnight had been "hot."

Ukrainian troops were "bravely trying to hold the line" despite Russian claims that it had gained control of the region, she added.

Belarusian artillery units that are part of a joint military grouping with Russia are being put on alert as part of combat coordination activities in Belarus, according to the country's ministry of defense.

In October last year, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced the establishment of a joint grouping of troops with Russia due to "the aggravation of the situation on the borders of Belarus."

And the joint grouping continues to grow in size, the defense ministry said this week.

"As part of ensuring the military security of the Union State, the build-up of the regional grouping of troops (forces) of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation continues," said the ministry in a statement.

The ministry also announced joint air force exercises between the two countries. 

Last month, Ukraine warned it does "not rule out" a "deliberate provocation" from Russia after Belarus said that the wreckage of a Ukrainian missile landed on its territory. 

France is aiming to deliver AMX 10-RC tanks to Ukraine within two months, French armed forces minister Sébastien Lecornu said in a statement Friday. 

It comes after French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed France would send the light-combat tanks in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on January 4.

Lecornu “reaffirmed France's unwavering support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression,” in a phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart Oleksii Reznikov on Thursday, according to the statement. 

The ministers “also agreed on the rapid organization of training for Ukrainian soldiers” on the use of the French-made tanks, the statement said. 

Poland has also promised to deliver Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, although typically any shipment would require approval from Germany as the tanks are manufactured in the country.

A delivery of either Leopard or AMX 10-RC tanks will mark the first time Western-designed tanks will be provided to Ukrainian forces. 

Wagner, the Russian private military company, posted a video on Telegram Thursday evening directly disparaging the Russian defense ministry’s claim that regular Russian military forces have participated in the assault on Soledar.

A day after Russia’s defense ministry reshuffled the command of its so-called "special military operation," Wagner’s post doubled down on the assertion by boss Yevgeny Prigozhin that his forces alone are responsible for the Soledar operation, directly contradicting the ministry.

The video shows two men, faces obscured, wearing fatigues and standing in what looks to be an underground bunker, illuminated by flashlight.

CNN is unable to verify the men’s identity or the veracity of their statement, but it is significant that Wagner posted it at all as competing claims over which Russian forces are responsible for the assault in eastern Ukraine has become a key point of contention in the machinations of Russia’s power structure.

Some context: On Wednesday Russia’s defense ministry said that regular Russian forces were operating in and around Soledar, without mentioning Wagner.

"Airborne Troops have blocked Soledar from the northern and southern parts of the city," the ministry said on its official Telegram channel. "The Russian Aerospace Forces strike at enemy strongholds. Assault squads are fighting in the city."

But Prigozhin called any claim that non-Wagner Russian forces have participated in the Soledar assault "fake information."

"I would like to emphasize that Soledar was taken exclusively by Wagner PMC units," he said in a statement published on a Wagner Telegram channel on Monday.

The Ukrainian military insisted Thursday that the town is still contested, and that its forces were even "conducting counterattacks" in the settlement.

Some pro-Kremlin Russian military bloggers have speculated that the Russian defense ministry’s announcement Wednesday of Valery Gerasimov as the commander of its "special military operation" was motivated in part by Wagner’s success.

In a visit to his forces near Bakhmut over New Year’s Eve, Prigozhin directly castigated Kremlin bureaucrats.

"This year we will win! But first we will conquer our internal bureaucracy and corruption," Prigozhin told his fighters in a video posted to Telegram.

"Once we conquer our internal bureaucracy and corruption, then we will conquer the Ukrainians and NATO, and then the whole world."

"The problem now is that the bureaucrats and those engaging in corruption won’t listen to us because for New Year’s they are all drinking champagne."

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday publicly berated his industry and trade minister for acting too slowly in completing orders for military and civilian aircraft.

Putin reprimanded industry and trade minister Denis Manturov for the lack of military and civilian aircraft contracts in 2023, and urged to speed up the process for companies to fulfil the orders.

Putin also demanded that the contracts should be completed within a month.

Manturov pushed back: "Actually, the defense ministry has confirmed this year’s figures for all enterprises. Moreover, as I have reported to you, Russian Helicopters enterprises have taken loans – we are primarily talking about helicopters – in order to sign contracts with their Tier Two, Three and Four suppliers. Therefore, we have all the plans drawn up for the current as well as the next year."

After another exchange with Manturov, Putin said: "You say everything is ready to go, but there are no contracts. This is what I am telling you. Let's discuss this after the meeting. There is no point in our splitting hairs at this point. I know no contracts have been signed with the enterprises, the directors told me so. What are you fooling around for?"

Manturov replied with: "We will try to do our best."

Fighting raged overnight in the contested town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, a senior Kyiv official said.

Russian forces have thrown “almost all main forces to the Donetsk direction and maintains high intensity of the offensive," she added, referring to the eastern city.

Maliar also noted this was “a difficult state of the war” but Ukrainian troops were “bravely trying to hold the line” despite Russian claims that it has gained control of the region.

A British visa plan to attract investment was used by 10 Russian oligarchs placed under sanctions to get residency, according to a review from the UK Home Office on Thursday. 

Home Secretary Suella Braverman said a small minority who had used the visa route "were potentially at high risk of having obtained wealth through corruption or other illicit financial activity, and /or being engaged in serious and organized crime."

Braverman said the 10 Russian oligarchs who used the visa scheme were sanctioned after the invasion of Ukraine.

The secretary made the disclosure in a statement Thursday at the end of a long-awaited review into the so-called “golden visa” scheme for high-net-worth individuals.

Braverman said that since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, the UK has placed sanctions on 1,200 individuals and 120 entities linked to the Russian state and frozen $22 billion in Russian assets.

Some background: The Tier 1 Investor visa route, often referred to as "the golden visa," was introduced in 2008 to encourage wealthy people outside the European Union to invest in the UK. It was shut down last year.

A review of the visa scheme was commissioned in 2018 by the then-Home Secretary Amber Rudd following the Salisbury poisonings. The nerve agent attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skirpal and his daughter resulted in the death of a woman.

In response to the review, Braverman said "the Government is clear that any future visa route to facilitate investment-based migration must not offer entry solely on the basis of the applicant's personal wealth."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in his daily address thanked the Ukrainian soldiers defending the eastern town of Soledar from a Russian assault.

The Ukrainian military unit stationed in Soledar said Thursday that the situation in the contested eastern town is “critical."

“The situation is critical. News coming soon,” the 46th Airmobile Brigade said on Telegram.

Fighting is still raging in Soledar, a salt mine town in eastern Ukraine, despite Russian claims that it has gained control of the region.

The significance of Soledar in military terms is minimal. However, its capture would allow Russian forces, and especially the Wagner mercenary group, to turn their focus on nearby Bakhmut, which has been a target since the summer.

CNN's Rob Picheta, Tim Lister and Olga Voitovych contributed to this post.

Russia’s appointment of a new head of the invasion operation of Ukraine likely reflects "systemic challenges" for Russia, according to a US Defense Department spokesperson.

The announcement of Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff, as overall commander of the campaign shows “some of the systemic challenges that the Russian military has faced since the beginning of this invasion,” Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a press briefing.

Ryder said the department will “continue to monitor” such Russian personnel shifts.

“I think that the world would rather see Russia focus on withdrawing from Ukraine and saving innocent lives versus spending time on numerous management reshuffles, and Russian soldiers and their families would probably like to see that too,” Ryder said.