Ukraine Rejects Rare Russian Claim Of Battleground Success
A Ukrainian Army Grad multiple-rocket launcher fires missiles at Russian positions on the front line near Soledar in the Donetsk region.
Ukraine has rejected claims by Russia of a rare battleground success after months of setbacks in the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, saying intense fighting continues for control of the town.
Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement on January 13 that it had captured the strategically important salt-mining town overnight. There have been several conflicting reports over who controls the town in recent days, and the Russian claim could not be independently verified.
"The tough battle for the Donetsk region continues. The battle for Bakhmut and Soledar, for Kreminna, for other towns and villages in the east of our country continues," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on January 13.
"Although the enemy has concentrated its greatest forces in this direction, our soldiers -- the Armed Forces of Ukraine, all defense and security forces --- are protecting the state," he said.
Ukraine and Washington have tamped down talk about the importance of Soledar, saying the heavy cost in personnel incurred by Russia was not worth an area now devastated by weeks of fighting and likely not significant enough to swing the war markedly in Moscow's favor.
"No, this is not true. Severe fighting is still going on in the town," Serhiy Cherevatiy, a spokesman for the eastern group of the Ukrainian armed forces, said on January 13 in comments to the media outlet RBC-Ukraine, just hours after the Russian ministry's claim.
"Ukraine's armed forces have the situation under control in difficult conditions," he added.
Ukraine said earlier on January 13 that it was facing a "high-intensity" Russian offensive in Soledar.
“The night in Soledar was hot. Fighting continued. The enemy relocated almost all of its main forces toward Donetsk and is maintaining a high-intensity offensive," Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said.
"This is a difficult stage of the war, but we will win this war. There is no doubt,” she added.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in its statement that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the past three days of heavy fighting and bombardments. Ukrainian officials have said more than 500 civilians are trapped inside the town, including 15 children. Russia did not talk about any possible civilian casualties.
Russia has been throwing major resources into the battle for Soledar as it launches an assault on the city of Bakhmut, which is located about 10 kilometers to the southwest. Soledar would provide Russia with a secure and dominant artillery position within range of the city.
Establishing full control over Soledar makes it possible to cut off the supply routes of Ukrainian troops in the southwestern city of Artemovsk, and then to block and take into the 'cauldron' the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine remaining in it," Russia's Defense Ministry said.
The ministry's claim comes several days after the Kremlin-connected businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who heads the ostensibly private Russian mercenary group Vagner, said his forces, which have been operating in coordination with Russian troops, had captured the city.
The Kremlin, however, had backed away from Prigozhin's statements, saying that while there had been a "positive dynamic in advances," people should wait for "official information" on the situation.
Prigozhin, meanwhile, took exception to the ministry taking credit for a victory he feels his troops -- consisting of trained mercenaries and men recruited from prisons with a promise of pardons for their efforts -- made possible.
"I read with surprise the statement from the Ministry of Defense...Soledar was taken solely by the efforts of the fighters of the Vagner PMC and there is no need to offend the fighters by downplaying their contribution," he said.
"You are demotivating them. It is necessary to fight instead of comparing each others' d**ks and stealing others' achievements."
Zelenskiy mocked Prigozhin's statement, saying Russians "are bickering among themselves over who should be credited with some tactical advance."
He called this a sign of failure and said it should serve as an "incentive" to put more pressure on Russian forces and "inflict greater losses on the enemy."
While Soledar is seen as strategically important, U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said a Russian victory there, or even in nearby Bakhmut, may not end up having a major impact on the trajectory of Russia’s unprovoked war on Ukraine, which is now in its 11th month.
"Even if both Bakhmut and Soledar fall to the Russians, it's not going to have a strategic impact on the war itself," Kirby told reporters at the White House on January 12, "and it certainly isn't going to stop the Ukrainians or slow them down.”
Meanwhile, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said on January 13 that Belarus could enter the conflict if Kyiv decides to “invade" it or Russia.
Salt Of The Earth: Deep Inside Eastern Ukraine's Massive Soledar Mines
1/16This is pure salt. The crystal-clear chunk was extracted from the Artyomsol salt mine in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
2/16An underground chamber at the mine, created after thousands of tons of rock salt was extracted. Geologists working for the mine say less than 5 percent of the salt seam has been removed since operations began in 1881.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
3/16An emergency escape ladder runs up one wall of a chamber in the mine, hundreds of meters beneath the surface.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
4/16A transport tunnel inside the mine. The vast salt seam under the town of Soledar, meaning "gift of salt," was formed after an ancient sea in the region dried up.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
5/16The mine employs more than 2,800 people and supplies some 95 percent of Ukrainians' salt.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
7/16The business end of the combine, poised to grind the salt into an easily transportable powder.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
8/16A worker pours freshly ground salt into a heap. From here it will be transported to the surface.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
9/16In 2015, amid conflict between Russia-backed separatists and the Ukrainian military, the mine lost around one-third of its market when Russian authorities abruptly suspended imports of Artyomsol's salt.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
10/16Ground salt being zipped toward an elevator that will transport it to the surface.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
11/16As well as selling salt for both food and heavy industry, the Artyomsol mine also does a swift trade in an unusual salt product.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
12/16These salt blocks, which sell for around 8 euros each, are used for "speleo rooms" -- chambers built from salt that seek to recreate the allegedly restorative conditions of salt mines.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
13/16A worker slices up blocks of salt. There is disagreement over whether inhaling salt dust is indeed the miracle cure for respiratory illnesses it is claimed to be. But after a Polish doctor noticed that workers in salt mines often avoided the lung diseases common to coal miners, the "halotherapy" industry was born.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
14/16But the majority of sales remain salt for zesting up food. And company officials say Artyomsol is seeking to crack Western markets.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
15/16Freshly packed boxes of table salt flow off the production line. A spokesman told RFE/RL that Artyomsol is currently designing packaging to catch the eyes of Western shoppers.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
16/16A vintage sign at the entrance to one of Artyomsol's mines.
Russian forces in Ukraine are trying to capture the eastern salt-mining town of Soledar in a sustained offensive that Kyiv's Defense Ministry has described as "maniacal." In 2019, RFE/RL's Amos Chapple visited Soledar as the salt-mining operation was hoping to crack Western markets.
Previous slide
Next slide
"From a legal point of view, the use of military force by the Kyiv regime or the invasion of the territory of Belarus or Russia by the armed forces of Ukraine are sufficient grounds for a collective response," Foreign Ministry official Aleksei Polishchuk told the official Russian state TASS news agency.
He added, however, that it was up to the leaders of the two countries to make such a decision. Belarusian soldiers have not participated in the invasion, but Minsk has allowed Russia to use its territory to stage operations in the conflict with Ukraine.
'What Madness Looks Like': Russia Intensifies Bakhmut Assault As Ukraine Holds The Line
1/13Ukrainian soldiers near Bakhmut fire mortars toward Russian positions on January 11.
The assaults on Bakhmut are being led by soldiers from Russia's notorious private mercenary company the Vagner Group, according to Ukrainian, Western, and Russian officials. Some reports point to World War I-style "human wave" infantry attacks.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
2/13A Ukrainian soldier smokes a cigarette at his position near Bakhmut.
Located astride two major crossroads, Bakhmut has been all but emptied of its 70,000 residents, as the city's buildings and homes have nearly all been destroyed.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
3/13Ukrainian tanks roll toward the front line in the Donetsk region.
Ukrainian troops are defending Bakhmut's northern, eastern, and southern approaches against Russian forces, who are launching ferocious attacks to seize territory that some analysts say is of no strategic military value.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
4/13The ferocity of the attacks can be seen in this satellite image supplied on January 11 that shows the crater-scarred landscape east of Bakhmut.
"Everything is completely destroyed. There is almost no life left," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said earlier this week of the scene around Bakhmut and the nearby city of Soledar, another focus of Moscow's attacks.
"The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes," Zelenskiy said. "This is what madness looks like."
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
5/13Even Ukrainian commanders say Russia's obsession with Bakhmut is perplexing.
"Militarily, Bakhmut has no strategic importance," Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskiy, the commander of Ukraine's ground forces, said recently.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
6/13Ukrainian soldiers on patrol in Bakhmut on January 12.
"But it has psychological significance," Syrskiy said, due to a series of earlier battlefield losses inflicted by Ukrainian troops in the northwestern Kharkiv region and in the southern Kherson region.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
7/13Capturing the city "will be symbolic for the enemy," Syrskiy said. "Therefore, [Russia] is trying in any way to take control of this city."
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
8/13Ukrainian soldiers on patrol near Bakhmut.
Bakhmut is located about 700 kilometers east of Kyiv and about 80 kilometers north of the regional capital, Donetsk. It was one of the earliest sites of open conflict in 2014, when Russia first stoked a covert armed insurrection to take control of part of the Donbas.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
9/13A Ukrainian soldier cooks in a shelter in Bakhmut.
Then known as Artemivsk, the city was retaken from Russian-backed fighters in July 2014 by Ukrainian government forces. It was renamed Bakhmut in 2016 and had been largely rebuilt since then, serving as a key trading post and access point for people coming and going from parts of the Donbas that were controlled by Russian-backed militias.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
10/13A military paramedic waits inside his vehicle in Bakhmut.
The city had been indirectly threatened over the months, particularly as Russian forces in early July pushed Ukrainian troops out of the twin cities of Syevyerodonetsk and Lysychansk, 60 kilometers to the northeast. The highway that led from Bakhmut was a key supply route for Ukrainian troops.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
11/13A resident walks next to a destroyed building in Bakhmut.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
12/13Vagner's founder and owner, business tycoon Yevgeny Prigozhin, signaled last month that Bakhmut was a strategic priority, although he also suggested that the destruction of Ukrainian troops was also a goal.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
13/13The outskirts of Bakhmut burn following a Russian attack on December 27.
"Our goal is not Bakhmut itself but the destruction of the Ukrainian Army and the reduction of its combat potential, which is why this operation was dubbed the ‘Bakhmut meat grinder,'" Prigozhin was quoted as saying in a statement distributed on one of his Telegram channels and the social media account VK.
The furious attacks by Moscow's forces to capture the destroyed city of Bakhmut are intensifying. Reports of infantry charges like those seen in World War I have left fields covered in dead Russian soldiers.
Previous slide
Next slide
Earlier this week, Zelenskiy said speculation about the potential for a renewed Russian offensive via neighboring Belarus showed that Ukrainian defense forces "must be ready both at the border and in the regions.”
"We understand that, apart from powerful statements, we do not see anything powerful there, but nevertheless we must be ready both at the border and in the regions," he said on January 11.
Belarus lies directly north of Ukraine. The two countries share a border running about 1,100 kilometers.
RFE/RL journalists report the news in 24 languages in 18 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.
![Capturing the city "will be symbolic for the enemy," Syrskiy said. "Therefore, [Russia] is trying in any way to take control of this city."](https://gdb.rferl.org/058a0000-0aff-0242-bfc0-08daf3d8144a_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
