(Reuters) – Russia claimed responsibility for capturing the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar on Friday in what would be Moscow’s first military victory in six months, but Kyiv said fighting would continue. were continuing.
Reuters was not immediately able to verify the situation on the spot in Soledar, a small town in the province of Donestk which has been the subject of fierce fighting for several days.
The Russian Defense Ministry said its forces had taken control of the city on Thursday evening, after heavy clashes and shelling.
“The capture of Soledar was made possible by the constant bombardment of the enemy by aviation and artillery units,” said the Russian Defense Ministry, which did not say anything about the role played by the group. paramilitary Wagner, who had claimed the capture of the city on Tuesday.
The capture of Soledar should cut off Ukrainian supply routes to the nearby, larger city of Bakhmout and trap remaining Ukrainian forces there, the ministry added.
However, the spokesman for the military commander in eastern Ukraine, Sergei Cherevati, denied that Soledar had fallen into the hands of Russian forces.
Earlier on Friday, Ukraine announced that its forces were holding their ground in Soledar after a “testing” night of fighting against Russian troops.
MAJOR PROGRESS
About 100 people were evacuated from Soledar to the nearby town of Chakhtarsk, controlled by Russian forces, the RIA news agency quoted a local official as saying.
On Thursday, Ukraine said more than 500 civilians including 15 children were trapped in the town.
The capture of Soledar, if confirmed, would be a first major victory since July for Russia, which has suffered a series of military setbacks in recent months, including near Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine and in Kherson, in the south of the country.
Moscow announced this week a new reshuffle of its military command in Ukraine, with the appointment of Russian army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov as commander of the “special military operation” launched last February.
Both Ukraine and Russia suffered heavy military losses in the Battle of Soledar.
For Moscow, the capture of Soledar must be a step towards the capture of Bakhmout, which lies less than 10 kilometers to the southwest, and a major step forward in the Kremlin’s stated objective of taking control of the entire region. eastern Donbass.
Soledar is a small locality but it has important salt mines which have commercial value and which can also be used to store arms and ammunition beyond the reach of Ukrainian missiles.
Ukraine, for its part, claims that Russia is sacrificing soldiers in a useless fight for a bombed wasteland.
According to US officials, a Russian victory at Soledar, or even Bakhmut where Russian forces have so far been pushed back, would not change the overall dynamic of the conflict.
“Even if Bakhmut and Soledar fall into Russian hands, it will have no strategic impact on the war itself,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the House. Blanche, “and that’s certainly not going to stop the Ukrainians or slow them down.”
(Reporting by Reuters offices, written by Caleb Davis and Mark Trevelyan, Kate Entringer and Blandine Hénault for the French version, editing by Bertrand Boucey and Nicolas Delame)