Russian forces have almost completely overran the small mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, putting Moscow on the brink of its biggest gains since August.
The town is located just north of Bakhmut and despite heavy fighting in the war, Ukraine has so far maintained its strength.
Over the past few days, Ukrainian forces in Soledar have defended against heavy attacks from the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group, with heavy fighting reported at the town’s administrative center on Monday.
The latest indication is that Russian and Wagnerian forces now control Soledar after four days of advance, says the UK Defense Ministry. I saidintelligence update on tuesday.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hannah Mariar said in a statement on Tuesday that fighting continued in Soledar, which had been largely destroyed by Russian artillery fire. According to Kyiv Independent.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted that the fighting in Soledar was a “hard and difficult battle” for his army.
“It’s very difficult. There are almost no walls left.” Zelensky said in his evening speech on Monday.
“And what did Russia want to get there? The whole is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and the scars of the strike.
Russian military blogger Rybar said in a Telegram post on Tuesday that Russian Wagner Group forces had “liberated the city center and driven the enemy into the northwestern outskirts” with Soledar.
Russia has likely surrounded Bakhmut, about six miles away, and will likely use the Soradar to jam Ukrainian communications lines, British intelligence said.
Seizing Bakhmut would give Russia access to other key locations in the eastern provinces that Russian President Vladimir Putin illegally annexed last year.
Russia seized thousands of square miles in the region early in the war, which started in February, but has lost some of it to Ukrainian counterattacks in recent months. was in August. According to the Washington Post tracker.
Much of the fighting near Bahmut is led by the Wagner Group, which has mobilized thousands of Russian prisoners of war to the front lines.War Research Institute Mercenary groups said they were ‘responsible for block-by-block progress’ In important settlements around Bakhmut and in the city itself.
“[Wagner Group leader Yevgeny] Prigozhin will continue to confirm and disguise the successes of the Wagner Group in Soledar and Bakhmut, and promote the Wagner Group as the only Russian army in Ukraine that can secure tangible interests,” the institute said in its analysis. rice field.
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