Russian troops and the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group have advanced over the past four days to the small Ukrainian town of Soledar, 10 kilometers from Bachmut, where bloody fighting is taking place. “Soledar is in trouble. It’s a kind of ribbon village, it is said that half of that village is in Russian hands,’ says Europe reporter Geert Jan Hahn.
According to Hahn, “an incredible number of Russians” were sent to the front. “The question is whether the Russians are successful. Soledar is in trouble. It is a kind of ribbon village, it is said that half of that village is in Russian hands. The Russians aren’t claiming it yet. The Russian army is advancing all along the front to reach the four or five arterial roads to Bachmut.’
encirclement
If Soledar is taken, the Russians could encircle Bachmut and severely disrupt the supply chains of the Ukrainian armed forces, both by road and by rail. Incidentally, the “Soledar drama”, in which President Zelensky’s words leave no stone unturned, is not so much a matter of infantry as of aerial bombardment, argues BNR foreign commentator Bernard Hammelburg.
Incidentally, the British MoD considers an encirclement of Bachmut unlikely in the short term because the Ukrainian armed forces in Bachmut and the surrounding area are able to hold their ground. Kiev sent extra soldiers after “constant repulsing of Russian attacks”. The area between Bachmut and Soledar is, according to Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, “one of the bloodiest on the front”.
Mobilization
Meanwhile, reports are circulating that Russia is still mobilizing large numbers of recruits, but those reports are difficult to verify. Hammelburg is under the impression that it is a Kremlin boast, but he also doubts its veracity because some of it comes from the Ukrainian tube.
“The troops are about 150,000. They had initially declared a mobilization of 300,000 people, some of whom are likely to be trained or deployed elsewhere. We don’t know exactly. There were rumors that another 500,000 would be mobilised, and there is no evidence that this is happening.’ Incidentally, Hammelburg doesn’t think the Russians will profit much from those huge numbers—after all, the troops are undertrained, underequipped, and undermotivated.
Republican support
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Angus King is campaigning among party members to continue supporting Ukraine, despite newly elected House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, and a significant number of Republicans alongside him, are critical of the aid Americans and write what they call blank checks in Kiev. “What King is doing makes a lot of sense,” says Hammelburg, “Ukraine is a long way off for Americans.” According to Hammelburg, King sees that after the transfer of power there is still a sizable side of people who want to leave Ukraine. “He warns his own party, I think they are being listened to too.”
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Source: BNR
Sharon Rock is an author and journalist who writes for 24 News Globe. She has a passion for learning about different cultures and understanding the complexities of the world. With a talent for explaining complex global issues in an accessible and engaging way, Sharon has become a respected voice in the field of world news journalism.
