(CNN) — Russia said Friday its forces had taken the small town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine following weeks of fierce fighting, in what would be Moscow’s first notable victory in months, although Ukraine denied the claim.
The capture of Soledar would represent a symbolic if not an especially strategic win for Putin after a long string of military setbacks dating back to last summer. But it does not suggest a significant capitulation of Ukrainian forces, nor a substantial change to the overall complexion of the war.
Ukraine’s armed forces have denied Moscow’s claim. Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told Ukrainian outlet RBC-Ukraine that Russia’s claim of capturing Soledar is “not true,” adding that “fighting is going on in the city.”
It would also be a victory for the Wagner private military company, whose mercenaries did much of the frontline fighting. The battle for Soledar became a point of contention between Wagner and the Russian Ministry of Defense, who had publicized competing claims about their roles in the fight.
Two days after citing only regular Russian forces for the assault on Soledar, the Russian Defense Ministry on Friday also credited Wagner troops for spearheading the “direct assault” on the eastern Ukrainian town. The move appeared to be an effort at detente with the oligarch who runs Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, after a rift opened up between him and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
Taking Soledar would represent a symbolic PR win for Prigozhin, who has frequently criticized Moscow’s management of the euphemistically titled “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s armed forces have denied Moscow’s claim to have taken the town. Serhiy Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Eastern Group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told Ukrainian outlet RBC-Ukraine on Friday afternon that “fighting is going on in the city.” A CNN team just outside of Soledar reported ongoing mortar and rocket fire on Friday afternoon.
In recent days there have been competing claims over who has control of the town amid fierce fighting. Wagner, the Russian private military company, said it had taken complete control of Soledar on Tuesday, a claim refuted by Ukraine. Russian forces had fought hard to take the town, but more battles remained, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Thursday.
On Friday evening, Ukraine’s 46th Airmobile Brigade said local battles were continuing: “Orcs [Russians] are pressing from the outskirts to the center. Apparently, they are trying to bring down to the center those of our units who did not have time to leave the city. You will not succeed, Russians.”
Earlier a Ukrainian soldier in the nearby city of Bakhmut said Ukrainian units, including the 46th Airmobile Brigade, were still on the edges of Soledar, but that being there made no sense because it was “completely destroyed. There is no single building which survived Russian shelling.”
One Ukrainian soldier in Soledar had on Thursday evening described to CNN the desperate situation on the ground, saying his group had run out of food, were running low on water, and had wounded colleagues, but still had some ammunition.
“We tried to withdraw ourselves, but the orcs (a pejorative Ukrainian term for Russian troops) are already there,” he said over the phone. CNN is not identifying the soldier for security reasons.
“If there is no order to withdraw today, we will most likely not have time to leave,” he added. “We were told that we would be withdrawn. And now we аre just abandoned.”
“The last evacuation was three days ago,” he said. “The order was to hold out to the very end. Judging by the sounds of the battle, our neighbors (other units) either withdrew or were ordered to withdraw. We were told to hold out.”
Rift between Wagner and Russian defense ministry
Which Russian forces are responsible for the assault in eastern Ukraine has become a key point of contention this week in the machinations of Russia’s power structure.
The Russian Defense Ministry’s crediting of Wagner on Friday comes after Wagner posted a video on Telegram Thursday directly disparaging the Russian defense ministry’s claim that regular Russian military forces have participated in the assault on Soledar.
Prior to Russian Defense Ministry’s acknowledgment of Wagner in the capture, Prigozhin posted a thinly veiled retort towards the ministry, saying that while the United States is “a serious adversary, at the moment it is not a key one” — the Russian Defense Ministry is.
The Wagner boss has rarely missed an opportunity to take a swipe at the Russian establishment.
In a series of recent videos Prigozhin was heard saying “once we conquer our internal bureaucracy and corruption, then we will conquer the Ukrainians and NATO … The problem now is that the bureaucrats and those engaging in corruption won’t listen to us now because for New Year’s they are all drinking champagne.”
In his Friday Telegram post, Prigozhin said “they constantly steal victory from Wagner PMC and talk about the presence of someone who is not clear, just to belittle their merits.” This appears to be another dig at the lack of acknowledgement of the fighting Wagner units have been doing around and in Soledar.
Sergey Markov, a pro-Kremlin Russian military blogger, said on Telegram Friday that the public feud and semi-insults between the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and PMC Wagner” was damaging Russia and “must be stopped immediately.”
The Defense Ministry statement on Friday appears to be an attempt to make peace with the oligarch.
“Offensive operations in this tactical direction, which ended with the defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the capture of the city of Soledar, were carried out by a heterogeneous grouping of Russian troops according to a single plan, which provided for the solution of a complex of combat missions,” the statement said.
“As for the direct assault on the city blocks of Soledar occupied by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, this combat mission was successfully solved by the courageous and selfless actions of the volunteers of the Wagner assault squads,” it added.
