Moscow announced on Friday the complete capture of the city of Soledar, in eastern Ukraine.
Information immediately denied by kyiv.
Statements to the contrary have followed one another for a week about this locality, the scene of intense fighting between the Ukrainian army which defends the city center and the paramilitary Wagner militia which occupies the suburbs and hopes to conquer the whole town.
Le Parisien looks back on the various advances and declarations of recent days.
January 7: First mentions of Soledar
While the fighting in Bakhmout, a town on the Donbass front in the east of the country, has been attracting media attention for several months, the name of Soledar, located 15 km further north, has appeared on social networks.
The military historian Cédric Mas mentions the city for the first time in his "daily update".
According to him, Wagner's men succeeded in advancing on the northern flank of Bakhmout, forcing the Ukrainians to fall back into Soledar.
The city is then already completely devastated by the bombardments of the battle of Bakhmout which has already lasted for several months.
#Ukraine evening update
The situation in Soledar is very complicated for UKR defenders.
The RUS are throwing everything they have there: recent reinforcements, Wagner groups, Chechens…
The UKR must hold on but also be ready to withdraw before it is too late.
To be continued.
pic.twitter.com/Bu8ff2zRXF
— cedric mas (@CedricMas) January 7, 2023
January 8: the salt mines
The objective of Evgueni Prigojine, the commander of the Wagner group engaged in Soledar, becomes clearer: the salt mines located in the city and their 200 km of underground galleries which could, according to him, allow his forces to pass behind the lines Ukrainians.
Underground can "hold a large group of people" and "infantry fighting vehicles", says Putin's éminence grise.
January 9: the Russians attempt an assault
“The enemy again tried desperately to storm Soledar from different directions.
He launched the most professional units of the Wagner group into battle,” the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a statement.
At that time, the situation was complicated but not yet critical for the kyiv forces, which repelled the assault.
The Ukrainians nevertheless send reinforcements to the area and the commander of the Ukrainian army, Olexandr Syrsky, goes to the city.
In his daily address to the nation, Volodymyr Zelensky pays tribute to the fighters of Bakhmout and Soledar who shine in "one of the bloodiest places on the front".
January 10: "very hard and bloody fighting"
"Very hard and bloody" fighting continued on the outskirts of the city, according to militia leader Wagner, who praised the bravery of the defenders.
“Ukrainian Armed Forces honorably defend the territory,” he wrote on Telegram.
According to kyiv, the Russians massively bombarded the locality before engaging in assaults that were very costly in human lives, that is "a tactic of the First World War".
Satellite photographs taken before and after the start of the fighting show the extent of the damage.
AFP/Maxar Technologies
January 11: Rumors of encirclement of defenders
Yevgeny Prigogine claims that his forces control "the entire territory of Soledar" and that they surround the Ukrainian 46th Airmobile Brigade in the city center.
A photo of him, surrounded by his men in what looks like a gallery of the salt mine, circulates on social networks, suggesting that Wagner now controls part of the underground.
🇺🇦🇷🇺 Did Wagner conquer a city in #Ukraine, #Soledar?
In this photo, its leader, Yevgueni Prigogine, poses among his mercenaries in what he describes as the city's salt mine - a strategic location.
📺 Analysis at 2:30 p.m. @France24_fr with @julienfanciulli pic.twitter.com/P18hWaq57c
— Bilal Tarabey (@BilalTarabey) January 11, 2023
The Ukrainian army immediately denies any capture of the city by the Russians, assuring that Soledar “was, is and will always be Ukrainian”.
Even the Kremlin tempers, inviting not to declare victory too soon.
In his daily address to the nation, however, Volodymyr Zelensky recognizes for the first time “a difficult situation”.
The battle of Soledar is already considered by the Ukrainians as "the bloodiest" since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
January 12: heavy losses
No major attack to report.
"Despite a difficult situation, Ukrainian soldiers are fighting tirelessly," said Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Ganna Maliar.
According to her, the mercenaries of the paramilitary group Wagner, "suffer heavy losses" and "the outskirts of the city are strewn with bodies".
The Kremlin salutes "the gigantic work" and "the heroic actions" of these mercenaries on the front line.
Zelensky promises for his part to provide “everything necessary” to his men deployed on the spot.
The battle of Soledar, and more generally that of Bakhmout, is of no particular strategic importance for the two camps.
According to experts, the stubbornness of the Russians in the area is due to the fact that the leader of the Wagner group hopes to obtain a first victory for several months of setbacks and to prove the value of his mercenaries against the regular troops of the Kremlin.
