Ukraine says its forces are pitted against Russian forces in the battle for the eastern salt mining town of Soledar, even as more than 500 civilians, including children, are trapped there.
Ukraine said its troops were demonstrating against pro-Moscow forces in the eastern salt mining town of Soledar as more than 500 civilians, including children, were trapped there.
In a video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday thanked two units in Soledar that he said "remained in their positions and inflicted significant damage on the enemy." He did not provide further details.
Zelensky said he and senior Ukrainian commanders analyzed the need for reinforcements and next steps for the coming days in Soledar and nearby towns in the eastern industrial region known as Donbass.
Russia's ultra-nationalist contract militia Wagner Group, run by an ally of President Vladimir Putin, claimed to have taken Soledar after intense fighting, saying the town was strewn with Ukrainian dead.
However, Moscow has stopped short of officially declaring the victory, which would have been its first significant gain in six months.
"At the moment, there are still some small pockets of resistance in Soledar," Andrei Bayevsky, a Russian-based local politician, said in an online broadcast.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation.
Donetsk governor Pavlo Kirilenko told Ukrainian state TV that 559 civilians remained in Soledar, including 15 children, and that they could not be evacuated from the community, which had a pre-war population of about 10,000.
deserted roads
Drone footage obtained by Reuters of a medical evacuation from Soledar by Ukrainian soldiers showed deserted streets with only a few ruined buildings standing, amid broken trees and smoldering rubble.
A 24-year-old Ukrainian soldier stationed outside Soledar said: "The situation is difficult but stable. We are holding the enemy... We are fighting back."
American officials questioned the significance of the Russian victory at Soledar, even if it was true.
Soledar is located 10 km (6 mi) northeast of the city of Bakhmut, where fighting has been going on for months in one of the bloodiest battles of the war – dubbed the "meat grinder".
"Even if both Bakhmut and Soledar fall to the Russians, it will have no strategic impact on the war," John Kirby, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, told reporters at the White House, "and it certainly cannot stop." Not going to. Ukrainians or slow them down."
If Russia captured Soledar, it would use that position to accelerate its attack on Bakhmut. Soledar is also home to salt mines, which could be a commercially lucrative asset.
leadership change
Kremlin watchers were examining Russia's latest switch in battlefield leadership, a day after Valery Gerasimov, chief of the army's general staff, was unexpectedly given a direct order for the invasion.
The standing commander for three months, Army General Sergei Surovikin, was effectively demoted to become one of Gerasimov's three deputies.
Moscow interpreted the decision as a response to the growing importance of the campaign - at least the third sudden change of top commander in the 11-month conflict.
Across Ukraine, the front line has barely moved since Russia's last major retreat to the south two months ago. Kyiv hoped that heavy armor from the Western Allies would allow it to advance again.
Western countries call Kyiv the sophisticated U.S. has started offering advanced weapons such as the Patriot missile system. The United States, Germany and France pledged armored fighting vehicles last week and Ukraine's latest requests have focused on battle tanks.
Polish President Andrzej Duda promised Ukraine 14 German-made Leopard battle tanks. Zelensky told Polish state-run broadcaster TVP Info that it could pave the way for other countries to do the same. Britain is considering sending tanks.
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