Ukraine: Soledar, mortal combat chronology

On Friday, Moscow announced the complete capture of the city of Soledar in eastern Ukraine. The information was immediately refuted in Kyiv. Claims to the contrary have followed one after the other for a week about this place, the scene of fierce fighting between the Ukrainian army that protects the city center and the paramilitary Wagnerian militia that occupy the suburbs and hope to take over the entire city. Le Parisien looks back at the various achievements and claims of recent days.

January 7: First mention of Soledar.

While fighting in Bakhmut, a town on the Donbass front in the east of the country, has been attracting media attention for several months, the name Soledar, located 15 km to the north, has appeared on social networks.

Military historian Cedric Mas first mentions the city in his “daily report”. According to him, Wagner’s men managed to advance on Bakhmut’s northern flank, forcing the Ukrainians to retreat to Soledar. The city was then already completely devastated by the bombing of the Bakhmut battle, which had been going on for several months.

January 8: salt mines

The goal of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the commander of the Wagner group occupied in Soledar, is becoming clearer: the salt mines located in the city and their 200 km of underground galleries, which, according to him, could allow his troops to pass behind Ukrainian lines. Underground, “large groups of people” and “infantry fighting vehicles” can “hold on,” says Putin’s eminence grise.

January 9: Russians attempt to storm

“The enemy again desperately tried to storm Soledar from different directions. He launched the most professional units of the Wagner group into battle, ”the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a statement. At that time, the situation was difficult, but not yet critical for the people of Kiev, who repelled the assault. The Ukrainians nonetheless send reinforcements to the area, and the commander of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrsky, heads for the city. In his daily address to the nation, Volodymyr Zelensky pays tribute to the fighters of Bakhmut and Soledar, who shine in “one of the bloodiest places on the front.”

January 10: “very heavy and bloody battles.”

“Very heavy and bloody” fighting continued on the outskirts of the city, according to militia leader Wagner, who praised the bravery of the defenders. “The Armed Forces of Ukraine defend the territory with honor,” he wrote on Telegram. According to the people of Kiev, the Russians massively shelled the settlement before launching assaults that cost very large human lives, that is, “the tactics of the First World War.”

Satellite photographs taken before and after the fighting began show the extent of the damage.

January 11: Rumors about the encirclement of the defenders

Yevgeny Prigozhin claims that his forces control “the entire territory of Soledar” and encircle the Ukrainian 46th Airmobile Brigade in the city center. A photograph of him surrounded by his men in what looks like a salt mine gallery is circulating on social media, suggesting that Wagner is now in control of part of the underground.

The Ukrainian army immediately denies the capture of the city by the Russians, assuring that Soledar “was, is and will always be a Ukrainian.” Even the Kremlin is tempering, urging not to declare victory too soon. However, in his daily address to the nation, Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledges for the first time a “difficult situation”. The Battle of Soledar is already considered by Ukrainians to be the “bloodiest” battle since the start of the Russian invasion.

January 12: heavy losses

No major attack to report. “Despite the difficult situation, Ukrainian soldiers are fighting tirelessly,” said Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Anna Malyar. According to her, the mercenaries of the Wagner paramilitary group “are suffering heavy losses,” and “the outskirts of the city are littered with bodies.” The Kremlin hails the “giant work” and “heroic actions” of these mercenaries on the front lines. Zelensky, for his part, promises to provide “everything necessary” for his people deployed on the spot.

The Battle of Soledar, and the Battle of Bakhmut in general, is of little strategic importance to either camp. Experts say the Russians’ stubbornness in the area is because the leader of the Wagner group hopes to win the first victory in months of setbacks and prove the worth of his mercenaries against the Kremlin’s regular troops. .