Fighting rages over Ukraine's Soledar despite mercenaries' claim of
control
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[January 11, 2023]
By Olena Harmash and Clodagh Kilcoyne
KYIV/NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian and Ukrainian forces were
engaged in intense fighting on Wednesday over the town of Soledar in
eastern Ukraine - a stepping stone in Moscow's push to capture the
entire Donbas region - with the Russians appearing to have the upper
hand.
The mercenary group Wagner, which has spearheaded the assault, on
Tuesday claimed to have taken control of the small salt-mining town but
said pockets of Ukrainian resistance were holding out in the centre.
Russia's defence ministry said on Wednesday that airborne units had cut
off Soledar from the north and south.
But Ukraine's military denied that Soledar had fallen and said its
defensive lines had not been breached. Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson
for the eastern military command, told Ukrainian television the
intensity of the battles was reminiscent of World War Two.
The Kremlin also stopped short of claiming victory and acknowledged
suffering heavy casualties.
"Let's not rush, let's wait for official statements. There is a positive
dynamic in progress," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when asked
about the situation on the ground.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation in Soledar. But
a Reuters photographer who has reached the outskirts in recent days said
many residents had fled along roads out of the town in perishing cold.
She said plumes of smoke could be seen rising over the town and the
incoming artillery fire was relentless.
With the war now in its 11th month, Russian commanders have targeted
Soledar as a platform to attack the nearby city of Bakhmut, which has
held out for months against a Russian onslaught and is a hub for supply
lines in eastern Ukraine.
'STREWN WITH BODIES'
A victory in Soledar, which had a pre-war population of around 10,000,
would have symbolic, military and commercial value for Moscow after
battlefield setbacks in recent months.
Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar had said on Tuesday
evening that fighting for the town was still raging and the Russians
were taking heavy losses in waves of attacks.
"The approaches to our positions are simply strewn with the bodies of
dead enemy fighters. Our fighters are bravely holding the defence," she
said.
The Reuters photographer saw ambulances waiting ready to receive the
wounded along the road from Soledar to Bakhmut, and chaotic scenes in
field hospitals.
The Kremlin's Peskov acknowledged the high cost of the operation in
terms of soldiers' lives.
"Although tactical successes are also very important, they come at a
high price, at the cost of the fantastic heroism of our fighters," he
said.
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Ukrainian members of the military fire
an anti-aircraft weapon, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in
the frontline city of Bakhmut, Ukraine, January 10, 2023. REUTERS/Clodagh
Kilcoyne
Soledar was the main item on Russian state television, which rarely
mentions Russian reverses in Ukraine. Combative talk show host Olga
Skabeyeva called it a "small town with great significance".
Peskov reiterated previous Kremlin statements that President
Vladimir Putin remained open to negotiations, and that Russia would
prefer to achieve its goals by political and diplomatic means.
But he said there was no immediate prospect of talks, given the
positions of Ukraine and the West. They have dismissed Russian
statements on talks as mere propaganda.
The head of the Wagner private militia, Putin ally Yevgeny Prigozhin,
had said late on Tuesday that Wagner units had taken control of "the
entire territory" of Soledar although fighting was still going on in
the town centre.
SALT MINES
The Russian state news agency RIA said Wagner had taken over
Soledar's salt mines, and a photograph posted on Wagner's Telegram
channel appeared to show Prigozhin and his fighters inside a mine.
Soledar would be Russia's most substantial gain since August after a
series of retreats in the second half of 2022.
Denis Pushilin, leader of the Russian-controlled part of Donetsk
province, said Soledar's capture would open a prospect of seizing
more significant towns further west in what Russia has recognised as
the Donetsk People's Republic - centre of Ukrainian heavy industry
and one of four provinces that Russia declared annexed three months
ago.
"The opportunity to liberate Artyomovsk [Bakhmut] and Siversk is now
multiplied. This is the long-awaited entry to the bridgehead of
Kramatorsk, Sloviansk. And this is actually a turning point, now
preparations are under way for the moment we have been waiting for -
the liberation of the Donetsk People's Republic."
Elswhere, the head of the Kherson military administration in
southern Ukraine told a news briefing that Russian forces were
keeping up their shelling of the provincial capital, which they
vacated in November.
Over the previous 24 hours, about 40 infrastructure buildings had
been destroyed along with many homes. The children's hospital was
shelled again overnight, he said.
Russia began what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine
on Feb. 24, saying that Ukraine's close ties with the West and
ambitions to join NATO posed a security threat. Kyiv and its allies
accuse Moscow of an unprovoked war to seize territory.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Michael Perry and Angus
MacSwan; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Kevin Liffey)
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