(Kyiv) The Ukrainian army is defending Soledar despite “a difficult situation” there, Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar said on Thursday, as “fierce” fighting rages with Russian forces in and around this small town. city in eastern Ukraine.
“The fiercest and most violent fighting continues today in the Soledar area,” she told a press conference.
According to her, “despite a difficult situation, Ukrainian soldiers are fighting tirelessly”.
On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the fighting was continuing in Soledar, a small town of around 10,000 pre-war inhabitants now completely destroyed, and that the front in the region was “holding”.
“Russia is sending thousands of its citizens to the slaughterhouse, but we are holding out,” Ganna Maliar hammered Thursday, hailing “the resilience and heroism” of the Ukrainian forces engaged in this violent battle which has lasted for several months.
Russia has indeed been trying since the summer to conquer this area of the Donetsk region, after several major humiliating setbacks which notably prompted Vladimir Putin to declare a partial mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists and launch a campaign of strikes on infrastructure. Ukrainian energy.
Without giving figures, Mme Maliar told reporters on Thursday that Russian troops fighting at Soledar – mostly mercenaries from the paramilitary group Wagner – “suffered heavy casualties,” “trying unsuccessfully to break through our defence.”
“The outskirts of the city today are strewn with the bodies of (Vladimir) Putin’s slain soldiers,” she told reporters.
Kyiv for its part did not quantify its men killed and wounded in the battle of Soledar and Bakhmout, the big city of the area, but Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, had deplored Wednesday “significant losses” in a interview with AFP.
Five things to know about the Battle of Soledar
The battle for the town of Soledar, in eastern Ukraine, is one of the bloodiest since the beginning of the offensive by Moscow, which throws all its forces there in the hope of returning to victory after several setbacks.
Five things to know about this confrontation which has redoubled in intensity in recent days.
salt mines
Prior to the conflict, Soledar was just a small town of about 10,000 people primarily known for its salt mines. Its name also means “gift of salt” in Ukrainian and Russian.
Located in the Donetsk region, which Moscow claims to have annexed, it is about 15 kilometers northeast of Bakhmout, a larger city that has been in Russian sights for several months.
The Soledar salt mines are the largest in Europe. In particular, they are crossed by 200 kilometers of underground galleries, which can represent several tactical advantages in time of war.
“Bloody” Battle
Russia and Ukraine said the fighting in Soledar was particularly fierce.
“Everything that is happening today in the direction of Bakhmout or Soledar is the bloodiest scenario of this war,” Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, told AFP on Wednesday.
“A lot of blood, a lot of artillery duels, a lot of contact fighting, especially in Soledar,” he said.
Even the Kremlin, usually tight-lipped about military casualties, admitted that the Russians had paid a “pretty high price” to advance to Soledar.
Russian mercenaries
The battle for Bakhmout, of which that of Soledar is only a part, is mainly fought, on the Russian side, by the mercenaries of the paramilitary group Wagner, led by a renowned businessman close to the Kremlin, Evguéni Prigojine.
The assault on Soledar is “exclusively” led by Wagner’s men, said Mr. Prigojine, suspected by analysts of wanting to strengthen his political stature in Russia through military successes in Ukraine.
Mr Prigozhin has toured Russian prisons in recent months recruiting detainees, against the promise of high salaries and an amnesty after some time spent fighting.
For military analyst Anatoly Khramchikhine, Wagner’s role in Ukraine is “quite important” and the group has “a number of important advantages” compared to the regular Russian army: “better training and at the same less (administrative) formalities and bureaucracy”.
Another military analyst who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals believes that while the role of mercenaries is “important” on the ground in Ukraine, it is not “decisive”.
Rivalries
Beyond the military aspects, the battles for Soledar and Bakhmout have also exposed the bitter rivalry which, according to many analysts, exists between Wagner and the regular Russian army.
On Wednesday, Mr. Prigojine announced that his group controlled Soledar, before being denied by the Russian Ministry of Defense, citing fighting still ongoing. Even the Kremlin has called for not “hurrying” to declare victory.
For Mr. Khramchikhine, it was “obvious” that Wagner and the Ministry of Defense would be in competition in Ukraine, given the magnitude of the forces and means available to the paramilitary group.
Vassily Kashin, another analyst, stresses, however, that the two camps “cooperate” despite their rivalry. “They can’t do things independently, they’re part of the same force,” he says.
Return to Victory
If analysts dispute the strategic importance of Soledar, there is no doubt that the Russian authorities will seize the opportunity to claim an important victory, after suffering spectacular setbacks.
Russian forces have been desperately seeking for months to take Bakhmout, sending waves of soldiers impaling themselves on the Ukrainian defenses and constantly pounding the city with artillery.
“Any win is important, especially because there hasn’t been a win for a while,” Khramchikhin said of Soledar. “Strategically, it could make things easier for Bakhmout,” he adds.
The analyst who requested anonymity believes that taking Soledar would be “a tactical victory with little strategic value”. “It will have little impact on the overall situation” on the ground, he also argues.