Moscow’s first success since July
Kremlin pays tribute to “Wagner” group for conquering Soledar
1/13/2023, 9:01 p.m
The acquisition of Soledar by the “Wagner” group is the first success for Russia in six months. Kremlin boss Putin in particular could benefit from this. The Kremlin also officially honors the mercenaries for the first time. Ukrainian voices do not recognize the defeat.
After days of bloody fighting and house-to-house fighting, Russia has now officially declared the city of Soledar in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine to be conquered. Ukraine rejected this. It would be the first capture of a city by the Russian army since early July, when it captured Lysychansk in its war of aggression against Ukraine.
On the evening of January 12, Soledar passed under the control of the Russian armed forces, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in Moscow. He spoke of “great importance for the continuation of the successful offensive” in the Donetsk region. It would also be an important psychological success for the Russian army, which has been weakened after many defeats and has had a new command structure since Wednesday – with Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov at the helm. According to ministry spokesman Konashenkov, taking Soledar will help the Russian troops to encircle the city of Bakhmut, a good ten kilometers away.
Western experts also reported that Russia may have captured Soledar. However, the US Institute for War Studies (ISW) did not rate this as an important development in the war. Nevertheless, the Russian conquest of Soledar would not only end the run of the Ukrainian army since September for the time being. Ukrainian troops were able to regain large parts of their own territory in the south and east.
Ukraine’s defense line is shaking
Should Soledar fall, the entire defensive line from Siwersk to Bakhmut, which Kyiv has held since July, will falter. Together with the reports of Russian gains in territory south of Bakhmut, the question for the Ukrainian troops could arise as to how expedient it is to remain there. Should Ukraine surrender Bakhmut, the next targets for the Russian army would be the relatively spared cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka and Kostyantynivka.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces announced in the evening that fighting for Soledar would continue. “The fighting for Soledar continues,” said a statement from the military leadership. In the morning, a spokesman for the Ukrainian army’s eastern group said the high command was considering moving more reserves and more western equipment to Soledar and Bakhmut. According to Ukrainian information on Wednesday, 559 civilians out of the 10,000 once held out in the city. According to the Russian side, all residents were taken out of the city.
Russians report hundreds of dead Ukrainians
The Battle of Soledar is one of the bloodiest since the war began on February 24th. In Moscow, ministry spokesman Konashenkov spoke of more than 700 Ukrainian soldiers killed. He did not provide information on Russian losses. The head of the Russian private army “Wagner”, Yevgeny Prigozchin, had previously announced that Soledar had been taken and only had to be “cleansed” of the remnants of the Ukrainian army. He had claimed success in a struggle for influence in Russia. The confidante of Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin is said to have it in for the rock salt deposits there.
In an unusual further statement in the evening, the Russian Ministry of Defense for the first time explicitly acknowledged the use of the “Wagner” group in the storming of the districts of Soledar. “This given combat task was successfully accomplished by the courageous and self-sacrificing actions of the volunteers of the Assault Squad of the private military company ‘Wagner’,” the ministry said. It read as if dictated by Prigozhin, who had repeatedly criticized the Russian military leadership during the war.
Kremlin spokesman confirms “high price”
For Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the fall of Soledar would be the first major setback after months of successes in recapturing cities and areas. He had previously described the news of the Russian capture of the city as propaganda. The “terror state” Russia is trying to deceive its population and “support the mobilization”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had already spoken of a “positive dynamic” around Soledar on Wednesday. “Tactical successes are undoubtedly very important,” said Peskow. They have a “high price, the price of fantastic heroism on the part of the fighters,” said Putin’s spokesman, to the horror of Russian opponents of the war. Putin has been criticized for pointlessly sending people into war as “cannon fodder” in order to keep himself in power. Peskow, on the other hand, said of the supposedly recent gains in territory this week: “This is another reason for our pride in our people, who on the field are not too bad either their lives or their health to give us these tactical successes.”
In the war against Ukraine, which has been going on for almost a year, reports of success should also strengthen President Putin. The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that preparations had already started in the Kremlin for Putin’s re-election in 2024.