Russia’s military has claimed to have captured the Ukrainian town of Soledar, which is home to a salt mine, after a prolonged battle. The Russian troops have stated that this is an “important” step in their offensive and that it would allow them to push on to the nearby city of Bakhmut, thereby cutting off the Ukrainian forces there. However, Ukrainian officials have denied that the fight for Soledar has ended and have accused Russia of spreading “information noise”.
The battle for Soledar has been one of the bloodiest of the war, with barely any walls remaining standing in the town, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. He described the area as being scarred by missile strikes and littered with Russian corpses. The town’s pre-war population was just 10,000 and its strategic significance is debatable.
Divisions have also emerged between regular Russian forces and the notorious Russian Wagner paramilitary group throughout the battle, with a turf-war developing over who should take credit for the advance. The US-based think tank Institute for the Study of War said while it was likely that Russian forces had captured Soledar, it did not believe they would then be able to go on to encircle Bakhmut.
If it is confirmed that Russian forces have seized control of Soledar, then it will likely be seen as progress, and even a victory, in Moscow, as Russia has failed to capture a single town in Ukraine since July 2022. Since then, Moscow’s forces have suffered a series of defeats, with Ukraine’s successful counter-attack pushing Russia almost completely out of the Kharkiv region in the north-east.
Capturing Soledar would be something for Moscow to present as “good news” to the Russian people and the troops on the wintry front line. However, Ukrainian officials have denied that Soledar is in Russian hands and have stated that they do not want to reveal the tactical positions of their fighters.
