By Andrew Harding
BBC News, adjacent Soledar, Ukraine
Ukrainian forces person acknowledged "stepping back" from the bitterly contested Donbas municipality of Soledar, captured by Russian forces past week successful their archetypal important triumph aft galore months successful retreat. But soldiers person told the BBC they've pulled backmost successful a controlled and tactical determination earlier a planned counter-attack.
Our analogous Andrew Harding has been to sojourn a frontline presumption betwixt Soledar and the neighbouring municipality of Bakhmut during an aggravated weapon and artillery battle.
Long bursts of automatic gunfire rattled crossed the grey, stubbled fields.
"It's rather close. One kilometre," said a gangly Ukrainian portion commandant named Andriy, peering astir the country of a ruined cottage and towards a acheronian enactment of trees to the east.
It was intolerable to beryllium definite what was happening. But the dependable of automatic gunfire, zinging overhead, successful summation to the changeless roar of rockets and artillery, suggested that Russian infantry were close. A property serviceman for the 46th Air Assault Brigade, who was accompanying america connected a sojourn to the area, said the beforehand lines were perpetually shifting, unpredictably, sometimes by respective kilometres a day.
"We person a pugnacious concern here," Andriy acknowledged, earlier slipping into a well-disguised bid bunker hidden amid the ruins. His squad had conscionable received elaborate accusation astir a Russian armoured unit bearer (APC), spotted by a Ukrainian drone. Moments later, determination were 3 large outgoing blasts from a adjacent UK-supplied airy artillery piece, utilized present by Ukrainian forces, and aimed astatine the vehicle.
"Every time we destruct 50 oregon 100 force people," Andriy claimed.
The warring successful and astir Soledar has been immoderate of the heaviest of the war, with Russian forces - spearheaded by the mercenaries and convicts of the Kremlin's Wagner radical - reportedly suffering dense losses but yet succeeding successful taking power of the tiny hill-top town, present a wasteland of flattened buildings and rubble.
Privately, immoderate Ukrainian soldiers person blamed mediocre co-ordination betwixt antithetic units for the nonaccomplishment of Soledar and person acknowledged that Russia whitethorn present beryllium amended placed to encircle the acold bigger and strategically much important neighbouring municipality of Bakhmut, to the south.
But the temper among beforehand enactment units successful villages similar Paraskoviivka, present conscionable a fewer 100 metres from Russian positions, appears to beryllium softly confident. Furious Ukrainian aerial and artillery bombardments look to beryllium blocking Russian attempts to determination guardant some from the northbound and from the south-western outskirts of Bakhmut.
"It's a controlled situation. I judge successful my commander. Sometimes it's truly amended to instrumentality a measurement back… past aft that to marque a [counter] onslaught and crush the enemy. Each time we're destroying force positions," said Andriy.
On a grey greeting this week, a airy thaw turned the snowbound state lanes connected the bluish borderline of Bakhmut into muddy tracks. During wintertime determination is precious small screen from trees and bushes, leaving galore roads disposable and vehicles exposed to Russian artillery fire.
As we took screen down a tiny cottage, a ammunition crashed into the roadworthy 300m down us. Our subject escort said the warring had reached a caller transportation of intensity, with the roar of rockets and artillery occurrence coming each fewer seconds, amid the wail of sirens from Ukrainian ambulances whisking the wounded backmost to a tract hospital.
"We person gun(shot) wounds, we person shrapnel wounds. The warring present seems to beryllium peculiarly intense. We besides person (cases of) frostbite and flu. And radical are tired," said Dr Andriy Zholob, the commandant of the 46th Brigade's aesculapian unit. But helium insisted morale among the soldiers remained high.
"They're tired, they're cold, they're wounded. But they inquire me, 'Doc, erstwhile tin I return?' They don't privation to accidental - 'I'm wounded, present I tin relax.' Their hearts are burning still. We person enactment to do," said Dr Zholob, scrolling done a video showing him removing mortar shrapnel from a soldier's shoulder.
Closer to Bakhmut, 2 Ukrainian jets roared overhead, arsenic artillery and tanks, hidden successful the fields, continued to lb Russian positions.