Editing Russo-Ukrainian War (section)

==== January 2023 ====
On January 11, 2023, Russian forces from [[PMC Wagner]] liberated [[Soledar]] in western Donetsk after five months of [[Battle of Soledar|brutal fighting]], capturing 400 Ukrainians as [[Prisoner of war|prisoners of war]] (POWs). Thousands of Ukrainian soldiers were left dead after the siege.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hao6O7_XG5Q&t Russia CONQUERS Soledar, 400 Ukrainians ENCIRCLED]</ref> 

On January 14, 2023, PMC Wagner also liberated the Donetsk town of [[Opytnoye]] from Ukrainian occupation, moving inwards on [[Bakhmut]] to encircle it, which caused an escalation in the then-five-month-long [[Battle of Bakhmut]].<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r4h2YThuIA&t Wagner LIBERATES Opytnoye, Bakhmut Encirclement NEARS]</ref> 

On January 23, 2023, [[Yevgeny Prigozhin]], the founder of PMC Wagner, published a statement calling out Ukraine and the United States for fearing both him and his organization because "they know we can kick their assess."<ref>[https://www.rt.com/news/570374-yevgeny-prigozhin-wagner-and-us/ Yevgeny Prigozhin: The Americans fear my Wagner organization, because they know we can kick their asses]</ref>