Russian mercenary firm claims strategic Ukrainian town of Soledar

The outcome of a battle for the eastern Ukrainian salt mining town of Soledar hung in the balance on Wednesday as Russia's mercenary Wagner Group claimed to have won control, with fighting focused in the town centre.

Kyiv said earlier its forces were holding out. Reuters was unable to verify conditions on the ground.

Russian commanders have made the capture of Soledar a key objective in a campaign to take the nearby strategic city of Bakhmut and Ukraine's larger eastern Donbas region.

“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 said, giving no further details.

Russia's capture of Soledar and its huge salt mines would have symbolic, military and commercial value for Russia. However, 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.

However, Prigozhin's comment that fighting continued in Soledar's centre suggested Russian control was incomplete, despite his statement that all of the town was in Wagner's grasp.

The Russian state RIA news agency later issued a report saying the Wagner Group took over Soledar’s salt mines after “fierce fighting”.  The salt mines are located in suburbs in the town. Washington has said Prigozhin may want personal control of the mines.

WAVES OF RUSSIAN FORCES

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and the military command did not mention control of Soledar on Tuesday evening. Zelensky repeated his call for more Western weapons, saying Russia was gathering its forces to intensify its campaign. He did not provide details.

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 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 fighting for the town was raging.

“The enemy disregards the heavy losses of its personnel and continues to storm actively,” she said. “The approaches to our positions are strewn with the bodies of dead enemy fighters. Our fighters are bravely holding the defence.”

Ukrainian analyst, journalist and military officer Taras Berezovets said on YouTube the situation in Solendar was “changing rapidly, but the enemy has achieved only limited success”.

“Russian shelling has continued in Bakhmut, but the situation has improved to some extent. If Russian forces do succeed in taking Soledar, we can expect Russia to resume its attempts to move on Bakhmut,” he said.

Earlier, some prominent Russian military bloggers urged caution about the situation in Soledar and said 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 humiliating retreats throughout much of the second half of 2022. Russian forces have been fighting for months to capture Bakhmut.

Any victory would come at a huge 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 said capturing Bakhmut would be a major step towards taking full control of Ukraine's Donetsk region, one of four provinces it claimed to have annexed three 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 co-ordinates 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 no-one was hurt.

Canada said it will buy a US-made national advanced surface-to-air missile system for Ukraine. Ukrainian troops were due to soon arrive in the US to begin training on Patriot air defence missiles, which Washington promised to Kyiv last month, a US official said.

In addition to sending weapons to Ukraine, the West has repeatedly tightened economic sanctions on Moscow. US 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.