The Russian Defense Ministry claimed to have captured the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, which marks the country’s first battlefield victory in recent months, though the city itself does not pose significant value.
Ukrainian and Russian forces have engaged in intense fighting in recent days in the salt mine city of Soledar.
Lt. Gen. Igor Konashenkov, a representative of the ministry of defense, said the taking of Soledar “was completed” on Friday evening, according to Russian state media outlet TASS, while Serhiy Cherevaty, the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine’s spokesman, told RBC-Ukraine that “fighting is going on in the city.”
RUSSIA CLAIMS CAPTURE OF SOLEDAR AS PENTAGON SAYS PUTIN UNDETERRED BY HEAVY BATTLEFIELD LOSSES
A CNN crew in the area witnessed firsthand what was described as “an organized pullback of Ukrainian troops from the town.”
“The capture of Soledar was made possible by the constant bombardment of the enemy by assault and army aviation, missile forces, and artillery of a grouping of Russian forces,” Moscow’s defense ministry said. Seizing the town will allow them the opportunity to block Ukraine’s supply routes to the nearby larger city of Bakhmut, which has been a Russian target for months.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the city of Bakhmut was holding out “against all odds.”
“Bakhmut is holding out against all odds. And although most of the city is destroyed by Russian strikes, our warriors repel constant attempts at Russian offensives there. There is no such piece of land near these two cities, where the occupier would not have given his life for the crazy ideas of the masters of the Russian regime. This is one of the bloodiest places on the front line,” Zelensky said.
The head of the Wagner Group, a private Russian mercenary group, said his forces had captured Soledar on Wednesday. Yevgeny Prigozhin, the organization’s head, has emerged as a high-profile leader while his force has a reputation for superior effectiveness and equipment.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said earlier this month that the Wagner Group was “emerging as a rival power center to the Russian military and other Russian ministries,” and he added, “It is curious the amount of Russian blood that Prigozhin has been willing to spend and to spill over Bakhmut.”
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The Institute for the Study of War, which is based in the United States, said in a briefing that “Russian forces likely control most if not all of Soledar,” but it also said the move “is not an operationally significant development and is unlikely to presage an imminent Russian encirclement of Bakhmut.”
“In terms of Soledar, we do continue to see intense and heavy fighting around Soledar and Bakhmut, which of course is relatively close. We cannot corroborate any reports that Soledar has been taken by Russian forces,” Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder told reporters on Thursday.
