WESTERN PERSPECTIVE
Russian mercenary firm claims strategic Ukrainian town of Soledar, control unclear
Ukraine's eastern salt mining town of Soledar hung in the balance as Russia's mercenary firm Wagner claimed control, but continued fighting and Kyiv's assertion earlier that its forces were holding out raised uncertainty.
Soledar has been the focus of intense fighting as Russia has viewed it as key to its campaign for the nearby strategic city of Bakhmut and Ukraine's larger eastern Donbas region. Reuters was not able to verify conditions on the ground.
"Wagner units took control of the entire territory of Soledar. A cauldron has been formed in the centre of the city in which urban fighting is going on," Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said late on Tuesday, according to Russian news agencies.
"The number of prisoners will be announced tomorrow," he added, giving no further details.
Russia's capture of Soledar and its huge salt mines would have symbolic, military and commercial value for Russia. But the situation in and around Soledar appeared fluid.
The British Defence Ministry earlier said Russian troops and Wagner fighters had probably taken control of most of Soledar after four days of advances.
But Prigozhin's comment that fighting continued in Soledar's centre suggested Russian control was not complete, despite his statement that all of the town was in Wagner's grasp.
The Russian state RIA news agency later issued a report saying that Wagner Group took over Soledar’s salt mines following “fierce fighting.” The salt mines are located in the suburbs of the town. Washington has said Prigozhin may want personal control of the area's mines.
WAVES OF RUSSIAN FORCES
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and the military command did not mention control of Soledar on Tuesday evening. Zelenskiy repeated his call for more Western weapons, saying Russia was gathering its forces to intensify its campaign. He did not provide details.
But Ukraine's Defence Ministry tweeted late on Tuesday, "Even after suffering colossal losses, Russia is still maniacally trying to seize Soledar - home to the largest salt mine in Europe."
Ukraine said earlier its forces were still holding onto positions in Soledar, withstanding assaults by wave after wave of Russian forces seeking their first battlefield victory for months.
Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar on Tuesday evening said that fighting for the town was still raging.
"The enemy disregards the heavy losses of its personnel and continues to storm actively," she said. "The approaches to our positions are simply strewn with the bodies of dead enemy fighters. Our fighters are bravely holding the defence."
Earlier, some prominent Russian military bloggers urged caution about the situation in Soledar and said that intense combat in the town’s centre and its outskirts continued during the night.
RUSSIA SEEKS MAJOR WIN
Seizing Soledar would be Russia's most substantial gain since August, after a series of humiliating retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022. Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture Bakhmut.
But any victory would come at a massive cost, with troops from both sides having taken heavy losses in some of the most intense combat since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago. The Kyiv government has released pictures in recent days showing what it says are scores of Russian soldiers strewn dead in muddy fields.
Moscow says capturing Bakhmut would be a major step toward taking full control of Ukraine's Donetsk region, one of four provinces it claimed to have annexed two months ago.
Near Bakhmut, a team of Ukrainian soldiers fired volleys of shells from a heavy anti-aircraft gun at what they said were Russian ground positions, across a barren snowy field.
"We're frying orcs," said one soldier with the nom de guerre "Pilot", using a common Ukrainian slur for Russian troops.
His crew receives coordinates of Russian bases from spotters or drones. They periodically shell Russian bases, and unleash storms of heavy fire when enemy troops advance: "If they creep in very actively, then we kill them in great numbers.
Hours after German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Russian strikes late on Tuesday hit a fireworks factory, the regional governor said, adding that no one was hurt.
Russia began what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine on Feb. 24, claiming Ukraine's close ties with the West and ambition to join NATO posed a security threat. Kyiv and its allies accuse Moscow of an unprovoked war to seize territory from Ukraine.
Canada said it will buy a U.S.-made National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) for Ukraine. Ukrainian troops were due to soon arrive in the United States to begin training on Patriot air defence missiles, which Washington promised to Kyiv last month, a U.S. official said.
In addition to sending weapons to Ukraine, the West has repeatedly tightened economic sanctions on Moscow. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the latest move, a price cap on Russian oil, appeared to be achieving its goals of keeping Russian oil on the market while limiting Moscow's revenues.
RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE
Wagner group claims full control of Soledar
Units of Wagner Group have taken control of the “entire territory” of Soledar, the head of the private military company Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed on Tuesday evening. Fighting is still going on in the center of town, where an unknown number of Ukrainian soldiers has been encircled.
“There is a cauldron in the center of town, where urban fighting is taking place,”Prigozhin said in a statement released to the media. “We’ll announce the number of prisoners tomorrow.”
He added that only Wagner “and no other units” had taken part in the storming of Soledar.
A video showing two Wagner fighters standing calmly outside the town administration building was released on social media earlier in the day. Such recordings, usually accompanied with geospatial coordinates, have commonly been used during the conflict to announce territorial control.
Named after its salt mines, Soledar had around 10,000 residents before the conflict. The Ukrainian army turned it into a strongpoint after being pushed out of Popasnaya in mid-2022. Russian control over the town creates problems for Kiev’s forces in the embattled bastion of Artyomovsk, which Ukraine has renamed Bakhmut.
Prigozhin said last week that his objective was not necessarily to take the towns, but “the destruction of the Ukrainian army and the reduction of its combat potential.”
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky acknowledged that the situation in Soledar was “very difficult” and called it “one of the bloodiest spots along the front line,” but vowed that Ukrainian troops would continue to hold “no matter what.”
Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, citing Kiev’s failure to implement the Minsk agreements, designed to give the regions of Donetsk and Lugansk special status within the Ukrainian state. The protocols, brokered by Germany and France, were first signed in 2014. Former Ukrainian president Pyotr Poroshenko has since admitted that Kiev’s main goal was to use the ceasefire to buy time and “create powerful armed forces.”
Moscow demands that Ukraine officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join any Western military bloc. Kiev insists the Russian offensive was completely unprovoked.
** Russian forces destroy two US-made counter-battery radars in Ukraine operation
Russian forces destroyed two US-made counter-battery radar stations in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Tuesday.
"In addition, two US-made AN/TPQ-50 and AN/TPQ-36 counter-battery radar stations were destroyed in the counter-battery warfare in areas near the communities of Artyomovsk and Dzerzhinsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
Russian forces also destroyed three D-20 towed howitzers near the communities of Nevskoye and Novolyubovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic and Shalygino in the Sumy Region. In addition, they obliterated two Grad multiple launch rocket systems in the communities of Artyomovsk and Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, and also an Uragan rocket launcher in the town of Seversk, the general specified.
Russian forces delivered strikes against amassed manpower of the Ukrainian army’s 14th mechanized brigade in the Kharkov Region, eliminating about 20 militants over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Kupyansk area, Russian forces delivered artillery strikes against amassed manpower of the Ukrainian army’s 14th mechanized brigade in areas near the communities of Timkovka and Ivanovka in the Kharkov Region. They destroyed as many as 20 Ukrainian troops, an armored combat vehicle and four motor vehicles," the spokesman said.
The Ukrainian military lost over 40 personnel of its 95th air assault and 103rd territorial defense brigades in the Krasny Liman area as a result of damage inflicted by Russian artillery, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Krasny Liman area, artillery fire inflicted damage on units of the Ukrainian army’s 95th air assault brigade and 103rd territorial defense brigade near the communities of Serebryanka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and Stelmakhovka in the Lugansk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
The enemy lost over 40 servicemen killed and wounded, an armored personnel carrier and three pickup trucks in that area in the past 24 hours, the general specified.
Russian forces eliminated roughly 50 Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the Donetsk area, Russian forces inflicted damage on units of the Ukrainian army’s 57th and 59th motorized infantry brigades during their successful offensive operations. They destroyed as many as 50 Ukrainian troops, one tank, two armored fighting vehicles and four motor vehicles," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed over 20 Ukrainian troops and three pickup trucks in the southern Donetsk area over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the southern Donetsk area, over 20 Ukrainian military personnel and three pickup trucks were destroyed in areas near the settlements of Prechistovka and Zolotaya Niva in the Donetsk People’s Republic as a result of damage inflicted on the enemy units by combined firepower," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed two Ukrainian arms depots in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Zaporozhye Region over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Operational-tactical and army aviation aircraft, missile troops and artillery struck two missile/artillery armament depots of the Ukrainian army’s 53rd mechanized brigade and 108th territorial defense brigade in the area of the community of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic and the town of Orekhov in the Zaporozhye Region, and also 62 Ukrainian artillery units at firing positions, manpower and military hardware in 105 areas," the spokesman said.
Russian fighter aircraft shot down three Ukrainian Su-25 ground attack planes in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down three Ukrainian Air Force Su-25 planes in areas near the communities of Yasenovoye, Pushkino and Maksimilyanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
Russian forces destroyed four Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzers in the Donetsk People’s Republic over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"Four Krab self-propelled artillery systems of Polish manufacture were destroyed near the communities of Avdeyevka, Seversk and Zvanovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
In addition, Russian troops obliterated two US-made M777 howitzers in areas near the settlements of Seversk and Avdeyevka in the Donetsk People’s Republic, the general added.
Russian air defense forces destroyed ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles over the past day, Konashenkov reported.
"In the past 24 hours, air defense capabilities destroyed ten Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles in areas near the communities of Ploshchanka, Oborotnovka, Podkuichansk, Chervonopopovka, Golikovo, Zhitlovka and Kremennaya in the Lugansk People’s Republic, Valeryanovka, Volnovakha and Yevgenovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic," the spokesman said.
In all, Russian troops have destroyed 370 Ukrainian warplanes, 200 helicopters, 2,866 unmanned aerial vehicles, 400 surface-to-air missile systems, 7,465 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, 975 multiple rocket launchers, 3,802 field artillery guns and mortars and 7,992 special military motor vehicles since the beginning of the special military operation in Ukraine, Konashenkov reported.
Reuters/RT/TASS
