KYIV/NEAR SOLEDAR, UKRAINE: Ukraine said its troops were resisting pro-Moscow forces in the eastern salt mining town of Soledar as more than 500 civilians, including children, were trapped there .
In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky On Thursday he thanked two Soledar units which he said were “holding their positions and inflicting heavy losses on the enemy”. He gave no further details.
Zelenskyy said he and senior Ukrainian commanders analyzed the need for reinforcements in Soledar and neighboring towns in the eastern industrial zone known as Donbass and the next steps for the coming days.
The ultra-nationalist Russian contract militia Wagner Group, led by an ally of President Vladimir Cheese friesclaimed to have taken Soledar after intense fighting which he said left the town littered with Ukrainian dead.
However, Moscow was slow to officially declare a victory, which would be its first significant win in six months.
“At the moment, there are still some small pockets of resistance in Soledar,” Andrei Bayevsky, a local politician based in Russia, said in an online broadcast.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation.
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian state television that 559 civilians remained in Soledar, including 15 children, and could not be evacuated from the community which had been around 10,000 before the war.
deserted streets
Drone footage obtained by Reuters of a medical evacuation from Soledar by Ukrainian soldiers showed deserted streets with only a few crumbling buildings left standing, amid shattered trees and smoldering rubble.
A 24-year-old Ukrainian soldier posted outside Soledar said: “The situation is difficult but stable. We are holding the enemy back…we are fighting back.”
US officials have questioned the importance of a Russian victory at Soledar even if it were true.
Soledar lies less than 10 km (6 miles) northeast of the town of Bakhmut where fighting has raged for months in one of the bloodiest battles of the war – dubbed the “meat grinder”.
“Even if Bakhmut and Soledar fall into Russian hands, it won’t have a strategic impact on the war itself,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. at the White House, “and that’s certainly not going to stop the Ukrainians or slow them down.
If Russia captured Soledar, they would likely use this position to intensify their assault on Bakhmut. Soledar is also home to cavernous salt mines, which could be a commercially lucrative asset.
Alleged war crimes
Moscow February invasion of ukraineEurope’s largest ground war since World War II has resulted in more than 50,000 reports of alleged war crimes, Ukraine’s top war crimes prosecutor Yuriy Belousov said.
Reports of alleged torture by pro-Moscow forces include electric shocks to genitals and other body parts, beatings, various forms of choking and sexual violence.
Moscow says it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine to protect Russia’s security and denies committing war crimes or targeting civilians. Moscow in turn accuses Ukraine of war crimes and the West of ignoring them.
In November, the United Nations said it had found evidence that both sides had tortured prisoners of war.
Change of direction
Kremlin watchers were watching Russia’s latest battlefield change of direction, a day after army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov was unexpectedly given direct command of the invasion.
The three-month-old former commander, Army General Sergei Surovikin, was effectively demoted to become one of Gerasimov’s three deputies.
Moscow explained the decision – at least the third abrupt change of commander-in-chief in the 11-month conflict – as a response to the growing importance of the campaign.
Across Ukraine, the frontlines have barely moved since Russia’s last major retreat in the south two months ago. Kyiv hopes that heavy armor from Western allies will allow it to resume its advances.
Western countries have started offering Kyiv advanced weapons like the sophisticated American Patriot missile system. The United States, Germany and France pledged armored fighting vehicles last week, and Ukraine’s latest requests have focused on battle tanks.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has promised Ukraine 14 German-made Leopard battle tanks. Zelenskiy told Polish state broadcaster TVP Info that this could pave the way for other countries to do the same. Britain plans to send tanks.
Putin launched the invasion on February 24, saying Kyiv’s ties to the West threatened Russia’s security. Ukraine and its allies call it an unprovoked war to take over territory.
In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky On Thursday he thanked two Soledar units which he said were “holding their positions and inflicting heavy losses on the enemy”. He gave no further details.
Zelenskyy said he and senior Ukrainian commanders analyzed the need for reinforcements in Soledar and neighboring towns in the eastern industrial zone known as Donbass and the next steps for the coming days.
The ultra-nationalist Russian contract militia Wagner Group, led by an ally of President Vladimir Cheese friesclaimed to have taken Soledar after intense fighting which he said left the town littered with Ukrainian dead.
However, Moscow was slow to officially declare a victory, which would be its first significant win in six months.
“At the moment, there are still some small pockets of resistance in Soledar,” Andrei Bayevsky, a local politician based in Russia, said in an online broadcast.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation.
Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian state television that 559 civilians remained in Soledar, including 15 children, and could not be evacuated from the community which had been around 10,000 before the war.
deserted streets
Drone footage obtained by Reuters of a medical evacuation from Soledar by Ukrainian soldiers showed deserted streets with only a few crumbling buildings left standing, amid shattered trees and smoldering rubble.
A 24-year-old Ukrainian soldier posted outside Soledar said: “The situation is difficult but stable. We are holding the enemy back…we are fighting back.”
US officials have questioned the importance of a Russian victory at Soledar even if it were true.
Soledar lies less than 10 km (6 miles) northeast of the town of Bakhmut where fighting has raged for months in one of the bloodiest battles of the war – dubbed the “meat grinder”.
“Even if Bakhmut and Soledar fall into Russian hands, it won’t have a strategic impact on the war itself,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. at the White House, “and that’s certainly not going to stop the Ukrainians or slow them down.
If Russia captured Soledar, they would likely use this position to intensify their assault on Bakhmut. Soledar is also home to cavernous salt mines, which could be a commercially lucrative asset.
Alleged war crimes
Moscow February invasion of ukraineEurope’s largest ground war since World War II has resulted in more than 50,000 reports of alleged war crimes, Ukraine’s top war crimes prosecutor Yuriy Belousov said.
Reports of alleged torture by pro-Moscow forces include electric shocks to genitals and other body parts, beatings, various forms of choking and sexual violence.
Moscow says it is conducting a “special military operation” in Ukraine to protect Russia’s security and denies committing war crimes or targeting civilians. Moscow in turn accuses Ukraine of war crimes and the West of ignoring them.
In November, the United Nations said it had found evidence that both sides had tortured prisoners of war.
Change of direction
Kremlin watchers were watching Russia’s latest battlefield change of direction, a day after army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov was unexpectedly given direct command of the invasion.
The three-month-old former commander, Army General Sergei Surovikin, was effectively demoted to become one of Gerasimov’s three deputies.
Moscow explained the decision – at least the third abrupt change of commander-in-chief in the 11-month conflict – as a response to the growing importance of the campaign.
Across Ukraine, the frontlines have barely moved since Russia’s last major retreat in the south two months ago. Kyiv hopes that heavy armor from Western allies will allow it to resume its advances.
Western countries have started offering Kyiv advanced weapons like the sophisticated American Patriot missile system. The United States, Germany and France pledged armored fighting vehicles last week, and Ukraine’s latest requests have focused on battle tanks.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has promised Ukraine 14 German-made Leopard battle tanks. Zelenskiy told Polish state broadcaster TVP Info that this could pave the way for other countries to do the same. Britain plans to send tanks.
Putin launched the invasion on February 24, saying Kyiv’s ties to the West threatened Russia’s security. Ukraine and its allies call it an unprovoked war to take over territory.
