Ukraine: Fight to keep mining town from Russian mercenaries not over

The fate of a salt mining town in eastern Ukraine was hanging in the balance the other day in the middle of a strong assault by Russia’s mercenary WagnerGroup

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Kyiv stated its forces were holding out in Soledar and firmly insisted Russian reports of success there were‘untrue’

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The challenged claims follow among the most ruthless and pricey fights in the 11- month war.

Soledar’s fall to Russian forces would be a reward for the Kremlin following Ukraine’s counter-offensive in current months. It might likewise provide a springboard to surround the tactically put town of Bakhmut, simply 6 miles south.

Russia’s media brought a declaration from Wagner head Yevgeniy Prigozhin, who stated it remained in complete control in Soledar and had actually surrounded the town centre.

But Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar stated that ‘heavy fighting is continuing’ while other reports from Kyiv rejected Soledar had actually fallen.

Even with its salt mines the town has little intrinsic worth. But Russia has actually been looking for months for a method to take Bakhmut, whose capture would open a path to push towards other secret Ukrainian fortress in Donetsk.

Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov stated Russian forces had ‘positive dynamics in advancing’ in Soledar– however he stopped short of stating its capture. ‘Let’ s not hurry and await main declarations,’ he stated.

Ukraine’s president stated today ‘everything is completely destroyed’ in the location due to ruthless shelling and weeks of house-to-house battle.

‘The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes,’ Volodymyr Zelensky stated. ‘This is what madness looks like.’ The Wagner Group, that includes contenders hired in Russian jails, has actually been routinely implicated of war criminal offenses.

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