Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said on Telegram on Monday that Russian troops were making another attempt to enter the small town of Soledar near Bakhmut in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region.
“After failure [previous] trying to capture Soledar and retreat, the enemy regrouped, recovered losses, deployed more assault units, changed tactics and launched a powerful offensive,” Maliar said. “Currently, the enemy has engaged a large number of assault groups formed from the best reserves of the Wagner army. The enemy was literally advancing on the corpses of their own soldiers, massively using artillery, multiple rocket launchers and mortars, covering their fighters with fire.
“Heavy fighting continues at the moment,” she added.
Earlier on Monday, Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the Ukrainian military, told Ukraine TV that Russia had “concentrated more units” around Soledar and was deploying both “regular” troops and mercenaries. worked for Wagner’s private corporation there.
The head of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Sunday that one of the reasons he wanted to take over Bakhmut and Soledar was to control the mining system in that region, which he described as a “network of networks.” underground cities”.
Cherevatyi, a spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said they were trying to evacuate civilians from Soledar but not everyone was ready to leave.
“Soledar was really destroyed,” he said. “There are residents there. Everything is being done to evacuate them. It’s hard to talk about numbers now. There is a part of people, especially the older generation, who are very afraid of change, afraid to leave home, go somewhere. We are communicating with them, but not everyone agrees [to leave].”
On Sunday evening, President Volodymr Zelensky said that Soledar had “held up” but that it was “extremely difficult”.
