Recording shows the center of key Donbass town under Russian control
Russian troops are in control of downtown Soledar, the private military company Wagner confirmed by posting a video filmed outside the town’s administration building on Tuesday afternoon. The salt-mining town is a crucial link in Ukraine’s Donbass fortifications and commands the northern approach to the strategic hub of Bakhmut.
The video making rounds on social media shows two members of the PMC, which has been storming the town block by block over the past several weeks, outside the battle-scarred building.
“We are at the center of town right now, outside the administration building,” the soldiers say. “PMC Wagner is carrying out the mission, clearing the town.”
According to some frontline reports, Russian forces north and south of Soledar have linked up outside a salt mine west of the town. Any Ukrainian soldiers that did not manage to retreat are now cut off.
Named after its salt mines, Soledar had around 10,000 residents before the conflict. The Ukrainian army turned it into a strongpoint after being pushed out of Popasnaya in mid-2022.
Russian control of the town creates a problem for Ukrainian forces both to the north and to the south, in the embattled bastion of Artyomovsk, which Kiev has renamed Bakhmut.
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