Russian troops have escalated attacks led by the Wagner militia units on Soledar, near Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian deputy defence minister, Hanna Malyar, said on Telegram on Monday (9 January) that though Ukrainian forces pushed back an earlier attempt to take the town, the Wagner units quickly changed tactics and brought additional soldiers, Reuters reported.
The Guardian reported citing the UK Ministry of Defence that Russia and Wagner have made tactical advances in the last four days and are “likely in control of most of” Soledar.
Ukraine’s Eastern Military Command spokesman Serhii Cherevatyi said Soledar was “practically destroyed” in the over five-months long fighting, as per The Kyiv Independent.
Russians “have concentrated their greatest efforts on Soledar,” CNN quoted Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy as saying in his nightly address on Monday. “It is extremely difficult — there are almost no undamaged walls left”.
Bakhmut has seen fighting for five months now. AP File Photo
Located in the Donetsk region, Soledar, around 15 kilometres from Bakhmut, has seen intense fighting since Russia invaded Ukraine last year in February.
A few days back, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s most high-profile mercenary group – Wagner, explained in detail why the capture of Bakhmut would be significant in the war.
What lies in the “underground cities” of Bakhmut and what is in Soledar? Why Wagner group is after the two cities? Let’s take a closer look.
What is in Bakhmut and Soledar?
Prigozhin, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, said mines in Bakhmut and Soledar would benefit Russia in the war with Ukraine.
“The cherry on the cake is the system of Soledar and Bakhmut mines, which is actually a network of underground cities. It not only (has the ability to hold) a big group of people at a depth of 80-100 metres, but tanks and infantry fighting vehicles can also move about,” he wrote on Telegram, as per Reuters.
He was referring to the network of vast salt and other mines in the region which consist of 125 miles of tunnels.
The mining town of Soledar has a vast underground room that has previously organised football matches and classical music concerts.
Donetsk Philharmonic Orchestra had performed a classical music concert in the presence of an audience of 350 people there in October 2007, noted Newsweek.
Soledar salt mine, also called the Artyomsol salt mine, is the largest salt producer in Central and Eastern Europe, as per Interfax report. It also boasts of walls as high as a nine-story building, sculptures carved from salt and a chapel.
Mines in Soledar boast of sculptures carved out of salt. Wikimedia Commons
The huge salt seam under Soledar was formed after an ancient sea in the region dried up, reported Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
As per Prigozhin, a large stock of weapons had been kept in underground complexes in Bakhmut since World War I. Further, he said the city is considered to be a “serious logistics center.”
Why do Russia and Wagner want Bakhmut?
Western military analysts are perplexed because of Russia’s efforts to capture Bakhmut which holds little “strategic value”.
“The only strategy I can see at this point is that they want to take the city so they can claim some kind of victory after a year that has seen so many losses,” Sasha, a member of Ukraine’s 24th mechanised brigade, told The Guardian.
“We’ve noticed in the past two weeks an increase in shelling and infantry attacks as if they are in a rush to take Bakhmut. That also means that they are suffering ever greater losses. They are just throwing in meat,” the member further added.
Russia’s aim to occupy “all eastern Donetsk Oblast in its administrative borders” will be complete only after seizing Soledar and Bakhmut, The Kyiv Independent noted.
Last week, a White House official said that Prigozhin was eyeing the control of salt and gypsum from mines near Bakhmut.
Wagner, which has played a significant part in Russia’s assault against Bakhmut, is likely driven by “monetary motives”, the US official said.
The US has earlier accused Russian mercenaries of exploiting natural resources in the Central African Republic, Mali, Sudan and other places to provide funding for the war in Ukraine. Moscow has called the allegations “anti-Russian rage”, reported Reuters.
As per The Telegraph, Prigozhin – called “Putin’s chef” because of his catering contracts obtained from the Russian government – denied that he is after the deposits in the Ukrainian city, saying the battle of Bakhmut would be “decisive”.
“Bakhmut today is the meeting place of two armies like Kulikovo, Borodino and other historical examples where one army must destroy another,” he wrote on Telegram. “And it seems to me that we are being successful.”
As per The Guardian, a video released over the New Year showed Prigozhin visiting a basement near Bakhmut that was filled with the bodies of his fighters, many of them convicts.
Out of the 50,000 Wagner mercenaries fighting in Ukraine alongside Russian troops, around 40,000 are former convicts, mostly murderers and drug dealers, the US has said, according to The Telegraph.
With inputs from agencies
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