Former Russian Commander Pours Cold Water on Putin's Success in Soledar

Russia's battles in Soledar, Ukraine, are not over despite the recent success by members of the Wagner Group, according to former Russian Commander Strelkov Igor Ivanovich, also known as Igor Girkin.

"The capture of the center and most of Soledar by Wagner units is an undoubted tactical success," said Girkin, a Russian army veteran and former Federal Security Service officer. "However, the enemy's front was NOT broken through; it was not possible to encircle the units and subunits defending the city. The enemy is creating a new line of defense on the western outskirts, relying on salt mines."

The Wagner Group is a private military force founded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, to lead Russian troops in Ukraine. The group has been accused of human rights violations and attacks on civilians.

Girkin also said on Telegram on Wednesday that the Ukrainian army leadership has control over the situation in the western outskirts of the city, which is north of Bakhmut.

"And although the retreat is accompanied by inevitable losses [including, probably, hundreds of soldiers 'forgotten' in the building], control is maintained and there is no talk of the enemy fleeing," he added.

In a Telegram post on Tuesday, Russian military blogger Rybar said that units of the Wagner Group have "liberated the city center and drove the enemy to the northwestern outskirts."

The British Defense Ministry released a similar statement on Tuesday, saying in an intelligence update that Russian forces are likely in control of Soledar after a four-day "tactical" advance, marking a major success for Russia.

The ministry predicted that Russia is likely to use Soledar in an effort to surround Bakhmut from the north and disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication.

Despite Russian shelling in Soledar, Ukrainian forces are still fighting, according to a Tuesday statement by Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar, the Kyiv Independent reported.

"The approaches to our positions are simply littered with the bodies of dead enemy fighters," Maliar said.

Still, the fighting in Soledar has been a "difficult and hard battle" for Ukrainian forces and left the city destroyed, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"It is extremely difficult—there are almost no whole walls left," Zelensky said in an address on Monday. "And what did Russia want to gain there? Everything is completely destroyed, there is almost no life left. And thousands of their people were lost; the whole land near Soledar is covered with the corpses of the occupiers and scars from the strikes."

Girkin on Wednesday insisted that Ukrainian forces still stand strong despite the Russian advances.

"As I have written and said more than once, even the fall of the entire fortified line Bakhmut-Soledar-Seversk will not lead to the collapse of the front of the Armed Forces of Ukraine—in the rear they have the main fortified area in the Donbass-Slavyansk-Kramatorsk," Girkin added. "The Armed Forces of Ukraine have reserves, moreover, new ones are being actively created.

"Deliveries of a significant amount of modern military equipment by NATO countries have already been announced and will be completed before spring. There will be no 'freeze of the conflict' [passionately desired in the Kremlin]—dear American partners are quite satisfied with the Russians killing Russians for as long as possible. The opinion of the Russians [as well as those who manage them] is not of interest to partners."

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.