Wagner Troops in Soledar Bombarded With Mortar Strikes: Ukraine

An unknown number of Wagner Group mercenaries were reportedly killed Thursday in Soledar, the same day that Kyiv said more than 100 Russian soldiers died from a missile strike and gunfire.

The State Border Service of Ukraine said that border guards defending Soledar alongside soldiers were attacked by members of the Wagner Group, headed by Yevgeny Prigozhin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Border guards shelled the mercenaries with 82-millimeter mortars that caused deaths and the unit's retreat, Ukraine said.

Wagner Group members were reportedly advancing in small groups in the direction of Bakhmut, with infantry convening in one of the courtyards near an urban development.

The strike followed Ukrainian attacks resulting in "the destruction of more than 100 occupiers" and Russian equipment in the same region. Kyiv said the causes of death were artillery fire and a strike by a Tochka-U missile, according to a Telegram post by Ukraine's Special Operations Forces.

Fighting in Soledar and Bakhmut has taken place for months but escalated in recent weeks. This week, Prigozhin said in an audio message published by his business, Concord, that his mercenaries had taken control of Soledar. He described the situation as a "cauldron" of urban fighting.

"Wagner units took control of the entire territory of Soledar....No units other than Wagner PMC fighters were involved in the storming of Soledar," Prigozhin said, adding that Ukrainians were still holding out in the city's center.

His claim was rebuked by Ukraine.

"Heavy fighting for the city of Soledar is ongoing in Donetsk Oblast. Russians continue to actively storm the city despite huge losses of personnel," Hanna Maliar, deputy head of Ukraine's defense ministry, said in a statement on Telegram. "Approaches to our positions are covered with the bodies of Russian soldiers. Only a very strong nation can fight so desperately with such a powerful enemy."

The Russian Ministry of Defense, without confirming or denying Prigozhin's claim, said fighting in Soledar was ongoing.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said on Telegram that fire damage suffered by Ukrainian tank brigades led to the deaths of 80 Ukrainian servicemen and destruction of one tank, three armored combat vehicles and two vehicles.

"Russian units of the Airborne Forces (VDV) blocked Soledar from the north and south, assault detachments are fighting in the city, the Aerospace Forces are striking at the strongholds of the Ukrainian troops," Konashenkov said.

Although the Wagner Group is a subordinate of the Russian military, McGill University political science professor Maria Popova said there is "intra-elite competition" between Prigozhin and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the latter in sync with Russian Armed Forces Chief General Valery Gerasimov.

Sergei Surovikin, a general who was demoted and is now a deputy under Gerasimov, seems to have been on Prigozhin's side, Popova said.

"In principle, they try to coordinate and work towards the same goals, but in practice, the cohesiveness/symbiosis is undermined right now due to the competition at the top," she told Newsweek. "The attacks both at Soledar and at Bakhmut are part of the same goal for Russia: make an advance in Donbas to be able to claim victory, regardless of whether it's strategically important."

In response, she said Ukraine "is practicing attritional defense" in the hope that the Russian army and Wagner Group will expend enough service members and resources that a regroup is necessary. That could potentially open a lane for a Ukrainian counteroffensive elsewhere, such as in Zaporizhzhia.

Mikhail Troitskiy, professor of practice at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, called the Wagner Group "a major asset" to Russia. Many of the mercenaries are motivated by money, while others are conditionally released from Russian prisons to partake in the fighting.

"Such a mix of fighters makes the Wagner Group a formidable force which is openly or tacitly relied upon by the top Russian commanders," Troitskiy told Newsweek. "There is, however, a political price attached to the use of Wagner in combat operations: the group leader [Prigozhin] is looking to play an increasingly visible role in Russian politics."

While a "ruthless wartime leader," Troitskiy added that Prigozhin is different from Russian commanders and politicians due to his ability to present an honest assessment of the adversary and losses incurred by his own men.

Newsweek reached out to the Ukrainian and Russian ministries of defense for comment.

Update 01/13/23, 2:47 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comments from Mikhail Troitskiy.