Russian forces may now control most of Soledar, but nearby Bakhmut will not be captured anytime soon, the British Ministry of Defense said in its latest assessment, also highlighting the important role of salt mines in the area.

What British military analysts say:

• Over the past four days, Russian army forces and a company of Wagner mercenaries have been tactically advancing on the small Donbas town of Soledar and are believed to be in control of most of the town.
• Soledar is 10 km north of Bakhmut, the capture of which is likely to continue to be Russia’s main immediate operational objective. It is likely that Russia’s actions on the Soledar axis are an attempt to capture Bakhmut from the north and cut off Ukrainian communications.
• Part of the fighting was centered on the entrances to the 200-kilometer tunnels of the disused salt mine that run beneath the area.
• Both sides are likely concerned that they could be used to infiltrate the rear.
• Despite increased pressure on Bakhmut, Russia is unlikely to surround the city anytime soon, as Ukrainian forces maintain stable and echeloned defense lines and control supply routes.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said late Monday that his troops were facing “new and even more brutal attacks” in Soledar, near Bakhmut, a town in eastern Ukraine that Moscow has been trying to capture for months.

Recent Russian progress in Soledar does not indicate an imminent encirclement of the much-controversial Bakhmut, contrary to claims by Russian sources, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said over the weekend.

The head of Wagner’s mercenaries, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Saturday that he wanted his forces and the Russian army to capture Bakhmut because it possessed “underground cities” through which troops and tanks could move.

A White House official said last Thursday that Prigozhin wanted to conquer Bakhmut because of the salt and gypsum mines in the area for economic reasons.

(article photo: © Serhii Yevdokymov | Dreamstime.com)