Soledar

"This is what madness looks like," Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

In its daily update, the U.K. "Everything is completely destroyed," Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Monday. However, despite the increased pressure on Bakhmut, the U.K MOD said that "Russia is unlikely to envelop the town imminently because Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes." The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Monday that Wagner troops "were advancing in certain areas" in Soledar, and while Ukrainian officials said that Moscow's troops do not fully control the town, "the situation in the settlement is extremely difficult." [said on Tuesday](https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1612694326710079488) that Russian troops had made tactical advances and were "likely in control of" the small town. "The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes.

“There are hard battles right in these minutes in Soledar” Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Defense wrote. Russian Wagner troops brought reserves and resumed ...

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Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev says Moscow is in a 'military confrontation' with NATO in Ukraine, not Kyiv.

Ongoing and powerful attacks by Russian forces were reported on January 9 in the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, where Ukrainian officials say Russian ...

To read the original story from Current Time, [click here](https://www.currenttime.tv/a/glava-sk-bastrykin-poruchil-vozbudit-ugolovnoe-delo-protiv-aktera-artura-smolyaninova/32215227.html). To read the original story from RFE/RL's Russian Service, [click here](https://www.svoboda.org/a/aleksey-navaljnyy-na-novyy-god-byl-v-10-y-raz-pomeschyon-v-shizo/32215538.html). Mohammad Hosseini was arrested for his part in nationwide protests triggered by the death while in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. RFE/RL could not confirm the presence of members of either group at the commemoration on January 9. The United States said on January 9 that Iran's sale of lethal drones to Russia for use in its ongoing invasion of Ukraine means the country may be "contributing to widespread war crimes." Li said jurors will hear that Saipov hoped to win the favor of the Islamic State group after he immigrated legally in 2010. "The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia has already informed the CSTO joint headquarters in writing that we do not consider it appropriate to conduct such military exercises in the Republic of Armenia in this situation," Pashinian told reporters on January 10. In a written statement to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, the U.S. Failure to continue supporting Ukraine would be akin to Western nations’ failure to combat the rise of Germany in the 1930s, King said. [Live Briefing](https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-crisis-crosshairs-live-briefing/31668477.html) gives you all of the latest developments on Russia's ongoing invasion, Kyiv's counteroffensive, Western military aid, global reaction, and the plight of civilians. Tehran is weaponizing the death penalty to punish individuals taking part in protests in order to strike fear into the Iranian population and stamp out dissent, the UN human rights chief said on January 10. Bakhmut and Soledar lie in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, which Putin claims to have annexed.

UK says most of Ukrainian saltmine town near Bakhmut is in Russian hands after intensive fighting.

Zelenskiy said Russia had gained little in its assault on Soledar at the cost of “thousands” of its troops, adding: “The area near Soledar is covered with corpses of the invaders … No one is coming to help them or to collect the dead from the battlefield.” Thanks to the resilience of our soldiers in Soledar, we have won for Ukraine additional time and additional strength.” Prigozhin said on social media on Tuesday: “On the western outskirts of Soledar there are heavy bloody battles. The Ukrainian army is bravely fighting for Bakhmut and Soledar. Ukraine’s deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar added that Russia had thrown “a large number of storm groups” into the battle.

There has been fighting near entrances to 200km-long tunnels, which could be used for infiltration.

In the reported statement late on Tuesday, Mr Prigozhin said: "Wagner units took control of the entire territory of Soledar. Russia could use access to Soledar's deep, city-like network of salt mine tunnels, dormant since April, to penetrate Ukrainian-controlled territory. The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think-tank, has said that Mr Prigozhin, "will continue to use both confirmed and fabricated Wagner Group success in Soledar and Bakhmut to promote the Wagner Group as the only Russian force in Ukraine capable of securing tangible gains". Our fighters are defending bravely," she added. The UK said earlier on Tuesday that Russian troops and the mercenary Wagner Group were "likely" to now be in control of the town. The statement stressed that only Wagner fighters - who are not part of the Russian armed forces - were taking part "in the storming" of Soledar.

Fierce fighting rages in Soledar, spokesperson for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command Serhiy Cherevatyi said on January 7. The Russian forces do not have ...

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Capturing Soledar would be seen as a win for Russian forces, who have experienced months of military losses.

So we can only speculate that the fighting there [in Soledar] is particularly intense because it is of such strategic and military importance. “Soledar is a salt-mining town … “The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes.

Moscow's troops see the capture of Soledar as a way to envelop the strategic front-line town of Bakhmut.

Everything in the area is completely destroyed, there is almost no life left. And the icing on the cake is the system of Soledar and Bakhmut salt mines, actually a network of underground tunnels. People do, have done, and will keep doing incredible things,” the 46th brigade said in Prigozhin has claimed that every house is a fortification in Bakhmut and soldiers have to fight for every 300 meters there. “It is a unique landscape — ravines and heights, which are natural tunnels. Both sides are likely concerned that they could be used for infiltration behind their lines,” the ministry added.

Russian forces appear close to capturing Soledar, a small but strategically important town on the front lines of the war near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine.

It not only has the ability to hold "a big group of people at a depth of 80-100 meters (about 260-330 feet), but tanks and infantry fighting vehicles can also move about,” he [said Saturday](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russian-mercenary-boss-says-wants-ukraines-bakhmut-its-underground-cities-2023-01-07/). both sides have exchanged several thousand artillery rounds in the area, in trench fighting described as “savage” and compared to the carnage of World War I by a U.S. [Footage emerged in September](https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-wagner-putin-chef-prisoners-recruitment-mercenaries-rcna48035) of him apparently recruiting prisoners to fight for Wagner, addressing a large crowd outside a regional Russian prison. Taking the town would create “good prospects” to then take Bakhmut, he said. The move to take Soledar was, it said, “highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication.” [address to the U.S. It would also boost the standing of [Yevgeny Prigozhin](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/u-s-treasury-sanctions-putin-s-chef-more-attempted-election-n1060346), the founder of the Wagner group and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has emerged as a public face of the war behind his vocal criticism of Moscow's established military leaders. But the Kremlin's forces appeared to have made progress in Soledar in recent days. military official in a “This is what madness looks like.” “It is extremely difficult — there are almost no whole walls left," he said.

Soledar is not far from the eastern Donetsk city of Bakhmut, which has been seeing heavy fighting as Russia attempts to seize it.

At the same time, after facing a string of [military setbacks](https://www.newsweek.com/putins-kherson-retreat-signals-russia-may-learning-slips-experts-1760205) in Ukraine in recent months, Russia "needs something to develop a narrative of where the war is going," said Michael Kimmage, a history professor at the Catholic University of America. He added that since Russia has had trouble frontally attacking Bakhmut, what Russia appears to be doing in its Soledar effort is cutting off Bakhmut's lines of communication. Army intelligence colonel, told Newsweek that he believes the tactical benefit of taking Soledar would be limited, but Russia's push to seize it could stem from its struggles in Bakhmut. The importance of the battles for both Bakhmut and Soledar is political, Reno added. So if you can't succeed by going through the front door, you go through the back door, in this case Soledar," Soller said. The fact that both sides treat the battle as important makes it important, despite the relatively low strategic importance of these places."

The financier of the Russian mercenary Wagner Group has a stake in the outcome of the ongoing battle for Soledar, according to experts, as the town in ...

In particular, [he criticized](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-civil-war-military-leadership-putin-kadyrov-prigozhin-1755338) the Russian Defense Ministry and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu over their handling of the war. [capture Soledar](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-bakhmut-isw-resources-prigozhin-1772153), as well as the nearby [city of Bakhmut](https://www.newsweek.com/wagner-group-bakhmut-battle-ukraine-isw-1766958). "Prigozhin has to get results in order to get paid. To continue to get more work, he has to continue to show results," Dan Soller, a former U.S. think tank, wrote in its most recent update on the war. Defense Ministry wrote in its daily intelligence update on Ukraine on Tuesday that Russian forces and Wagner troops had made tactical advances into Soledar over the past few days and are now "likely in control of most of the settlement."

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense asked if Russia believes "that salt will heal the wounds of the maimed occupiers."

On Tuesday, he [thanked](https://www.president.gov.ua/en/news/vilnij-svit-maye-vse-neobhidne-shob-zupiniti-rosijsku-agresi-80305) Ukrainian troops for "their bravery and steadfastness in the defense of Soledar." Do they believe that salt will heal the wounds of the maimed occupiers?" "Even after suffering colossal losses, russia is still maniacally trying to seize Soledar - home to the largest salt mine in Europe. Ukraine has also suggested that Russia will have achieved little if they succeed in capturing the town. [Volodymyr Zelensky](https://www.newsweek.com/topic/volodymyr-zelensky) said in an address on Monday night that the town had been almost " [completely destroyed](https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-soledar-bakhmut-zelensky-destroyed-1772497)," calling the [assault](https://www.newsweek.com/soledar-shelled-106-fierce-battle-bakmut-mines-ukraine-1772401) on the town "madness." Ukraine has disputed the claim, insisting that fighting continues.

Eastern Ukrainian town renowned for its salt mines has been the centre of days of fierce fighting.

A cauldron has been formed in the centre of the city in which urban fighting is going on,” Russian news agencies reported “The number of prisoners will be announced tomorrow,” Prigozhin added. He did not provide details.

KYIV/NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine (Reuters) - Russian and Ukrainian forces were engaged in intense fighting on Wednesday over the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine - ...

But he said there was no immediate prospect of talks, given the positions of Ukraine and the West. 24, saying that Ukraine's close ties with the West and ambitions to join NATO threatened its security. Kyiv and its allies accuse Moscow of an unprovoked war to seize territory. Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation in Soledar. Our fighters are bravely holding the defence," she said. There is a positive dynamic in progress," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

A Russian mercenary group has announced that it has captured the salt mining town of Soledar, but this has not yet been officially confirmed.

Canada has announced that it will purchase the US-made NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems and put them at the disposal of Ukraine, while the Ukrainians will soon arrive in the US to begin training in the use of the Patriot air defense system. The leadership of the Russian army has set Soledar as one of the main targets to further occupy Bakhmut and seize the entire Donbas region under its control. Ukrainian soldiers are still holding on in the center of Soledar.