Ukraine war: Russia set to capture Soledar and its vast tunnel network - BBC

Russia looks acceptable to seizure the salt-mining municipality of Soledar successful eastbound Ukraine, with Kyiv calling the concern determination "extremely difficult".

The autumn of the tiny municipality would let Russian troops to encircle the adjacent metropolis of Bakhmut.

Russian troops and the mercenary Wagner Group were "likely" to present beryllium successful power of the town, the UK said.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said determination was "almost nary life" near successful Soledar and "no full walls left".

He besides praised the resilience of his forces.

He said "the full onshore adjacent Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers".

"This is what madness looks like," helium added.

The strategical value of Soledar is debated, but its seizure would beryllium important for 2 reasons.

First, it would let Russian forces to inch person to the determination metropolis of Bakhmut. Russia could usage entree to Soledar's deep, city-like web of brackish excavation tunnels, dormant since April, to penetrate Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Secondly, invading forces would beryllium capable to springiness Ukraine a sensation of its ain medicine.

One happening that has helped Kyiv liberate territory has been its quality to people Russian proviso lines.

Long-range rocket strikes person often near thousands of invading troops incapable to replenish personnel, ammunition, fuel, and rations, and stopped them freely moving subject hardware.

The capturing of Soledar - which had a colonisation of 10,000 earlier the warfare - would efficaciously chopped Bakhmut disconnected from a large proviso enactment from adjacent Sloviansk.

The UK said it believed Soledar was adjacent to falling to Russia - but added that the Kremlin was "unlikely" to instrumentality Bakhmut instantly owed to Ukraine's "stable defence lines".

A elder subject authoritative from the US Department of Defense said connected Monday determination was a "good portion" of Soledar successful Russian hands.

Fighting astir Bakhmut has been going connected for months, and the US authoritative described the astir caller exchanges arsenic "savage".

Two British nationals have gone missing successful the portion and were past seen heading to Soledar.

Despite the agelong and aggravated battle, Oleh Zhdanov - a highly respected subject expert successful Ukraine - believes that neither Soledar nor Bakhmut are particularly important from an operational constituent of view.

Mr Zhdanov said successful an interrogation connected Monday with the Ukrainian paper Gazeta that Russia "is trying to beryllium to the full satellite that its service is susceptible of winning".

The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think-tank, has said that the person of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, "will proceed to usage some confirmed and fabricated Wagner Group occurrence successful Soledar and Bakhmut to beforehand the Wagner Group arsenic the lone Russian unit successful Ukraine susceptible of securing tangible gains".

For now, Ukrainian claims antiaircraft lines are holding against a Russian onslaught. But Mr Zelensky has acknowledged that could change.

"It is highly difficult," helium said successful his regular nightly code connected Monday. "But due to the fact that of the resilience of our warriors successful Soledar, we've gained further clip for Ukraine."

Capturing Soledar would conscionable arsenic overmuch beryllium a propaganda triumph for the Kremlin arsenic a subject one.

The gains for Russia are comparatively tiny and costly, but the municipality would beryllium a much-needed trophy to contiguous to critics backmost home.