Putin nightmare as Russia's deadliest militia slaughtered in Ukraine - 'Battlefield littered with corpses'
Bakhmut in Ukraine has suffered mass destruction following several deadly attacks
CLODAGH KILCOYNE
Russia has fired up a powerful attack on Soledar in eastern Ukraine following widespread destruction which has left the land covered with Russian corpses, according to Kyiv officials.
The land, which lies a few miles out of Bakhmut, has seen heavy losses from both sides since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.
On Monday, Ukrainian Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said on the Telegram messaging app that Ukrainian forces repelled an earlier attempt to take the town but a huge number of Wagner Group units quickly returned.
Russia: Ukraine officials say the land is covered in Russian corpses
SHANNON STAPLETON
Malyar said: "The enemy literally step over the corpses of their own soldiers, using massed artillery, MLRS systems and mortars.”
Wagner was founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who drew some recruits from Russia's prisons and known for uncompromising violence.
Prigozhin has been trying to capture Bakhmut and Soledar for months, but at the cost of many lives on both sides.
According to Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov, fighting in Bahkmut and Soledar is "the most intense on the entire frontline.”
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said despite widespread destruction, Ukrainian troops were “holding on”.
In a nightly video he cited new and fiercer attacks in Soledar, where he said “no walls have been left standing and the land is covered with Russian corpses”.
Russia is now thought to be preparing fresh troops for a new, major attack on Ukraine, possibly on the capital Kyiv.
Zelenskiy appears to be hoping for more sophisticated weapons from Ukraine's Western partners to beat off attacks.
Last week France, Germany and the US all pledged to send armoured fighting vehicles with the UK rumoured to be considering supplying Ukraine with tanks for the first time, according to Sky News.
Zelenskiy appears to be hoping for more sophisticated weapons
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SER
Taras Berezovets, a Ukrainian journalist, political commentator and officer in the Ukrainian army, said capturing Soledar made little sense, except as a personal victory for Prigozhin.
Speaking on YouTube, Berezovets said: "It's his personal war.”
According to a US official, Prigozhin is attacking via salt mine tunnels, believed to extend over 100 miles underground and contain auditorium-scale caverns.
Berezovets added: "The complexity of fighting in cities like Bakhmut and Soledar is that it is hard to determine who is with you and who is the enemy.”