The group of Mercenaries Wagner has sunk the Ukrainian defense lines in the Donbass and is about to provide the Kremlin with a small symbolic victory, but extremely expensive in life.
By Emmanuel Grynszpan and Cédric Pietrapurunga
The Russian forces have been on the verge of winning their first military victory for eight months, ending a long series of stinging setbacks in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions. The group of mercenaries Wagner said, Tuesday, January 10, having taken control of Soledar, a small town located 10 km north of Bakhmout, in Donbass. The fighting in this sector has lasted for six months and constitute the most disputed point of the 740 km head -on between the two armies.
On January 10 at the end of the afternoon, a first video appeared on social networks, proving the presence of soldiers of the Wagner group, posing in the center of Soledar (10,000 inhabitants before the conflict), before the ‘half demolished municipal administration. Another video, this time filmed on the Ukrainian side, shows updated border guards, leaving town on foot and repeating with bitter irony “Soledar was for us”.
A note published at the same time by the British Ministry of Defense confirmed that in the last four days, the Russian and Wagner forces have carried out tactical advances in Soledar and probably control most of the agglomeration “.
In the evening, the fights concentrated near the salt mine which gives its name to the city. A mine which, once conquered, would allow Russian forces to place ammunition and soldiers away from the very precise Ukrainian artillery.
on the official side, the spokesperson for the Oriental group of the Ukrainian armed forces, Serhiy Tcherevaty, denied, on Tuesday, that Soledar was entirely conquered by the invader. But Ukrainian military commentators agree to assess the situation as very difficult around the city, while the main Russian offensive effort is now focusing on this locality, more than Bakhmout, which so far concentrated most of the attacks.
Russian infantry has implemented a new tactic
The Ukrainian war reporter Iouri Boutoussov, editor -in -chief of the online media Censor.net, confirms a strong advance of Moscow troops in Soledar. According to him, the Russians “reached a position placed under their fire the main supply route of Soledar [coming from Sloviansk]”. The group of military experts Conflict Intelligence Team confirms that “this situation creates supply problems” for the Ukrainian forces, including in Bakhmout.
Taras Berezovets, a member of the Ukrainian special forces, reports on his Telegram channel that the enemy infantry has implemented a new tactic to take Soledar. The Russians attack in small groups of eight soldiers who go “in contact”, that is to say approaching as close as possible to the first Ukrainian line of defense, and seek the folds of the most advanced terrain. Each soldier is equipped with an individual “CHMEL” rocket launcher with thermobaric ammunition, reputed to be effective against fortified positions. These groups of “mules” carry a maximum armament load. They transmit the precise coordinates of the Ukrainian positions to the 82 mm and 120 mm mortar units, which then endeavor to annihilate the Ukrainian first line. These Russian assault units are responsible for “hanging” the field and “mounting” weapons that will be used by others if they are killed.
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