Insistent to Seize Soledar, Russia Deploys Wagner Mercenaries: Aiming for Underground Network Tunnels or Salt and Gypsum Mines?

JAKARTA - Russia is increasing the intensity of attacks led by Wagner Group mercenaries on Soledar in eastern Ukraine, Kyiv said Monday, illustrating a difficult situation for troops to repel a wave of attacks around the salt mining town and nearby front.

Soledar, in the Donbas industrial region, lies a few miles from Bakhmut, where troops from both sides suffered heavy losses in some of the most intense trench warfare since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.

Ukrainian forces repulsed earlier attempts to take the town but large numbers of Wagner units quickly returned, deploying new tactics and more troops under heavy artillery cover, Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Telegram.

"The enemy literally stepped over the corpses of their own soldiers, using mass artillery, multi-rocket launch systems and mortars," said Malyar, saying the attackers were drawn from Wagner's best reserves.

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry made no mention of either Soledar or Bakhmut in its regular press briefing on Monday, a day after facing criticism for apparently false claims of a missile attack on Ukraine's makeshift barracks.

Wagner was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Drawing several recruits from Russian prisons and known for his uncompromising violence, Wagner was active in conflicts in Africa and has taken a prominent role in Russia's war effort in Ukraine.

Prigozhin had been trying to take Bakhmut and Soledar for months at the cost of many lives on both sides. He said on Saturday, its significance lies in a huge network of underground mining tunnels.

"It not only (has the ability to accommodate) a large group of people at a depth of 80-100 meters, but tanks and infantry fighting vehicles can also move," he said.

Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in video remarks late on Sunday that Bakhmut and Soledar were holding out despite the widespread destruction, but in Soledar "things were very difficult".

Military analysts say the strategic military benefits for Moscow in capturing cities will be limited. A US official said Prigozhin was after salt and gypsum from the mine, which is believed to run more than 100 miles underground and contains auditorium-sized caverns.