Russian forces appear close to capturing the small but strategically important mining town of Soledar. Control of the town could hand the Russians a breakthrough in their bid to seize the key nearby city of Bakhmut.
, the founder of the Wagner group and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin who has emerged as a public face of the war behind his vocal criticism of Moscow's established military leaders.
in its daily intelligence briefing on the war Tuesday. The move to take Soledar was, it said, “highly likely an effort to envelop Bakhmut from the north, and to disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication.” “The whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes,” he added. “This is what madness looks like.”
“There are fierce battles now, and the enemy has concentrated there the best units of the organized criminal group ‘Wagner,’ which are supported by the regular armed forces of the Russian Federation,” he said.
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