War map | Russian troops advance towards Soledar and Bakhmut

Russian forces have carried out ground attacks through the front line of the region of Donetsk and made progress around solder y Bajmutreported the Institute for the Study of War.

Kiev y Moscow confirm that intense fighting is taking place in this area and the situation is extremely difficult.

Bakhmut and the neighboring city of Soledar have been the focus of intense efforts by Moscow to advance since early summer.

Ukraine is reinforcing its positions around Bakhmut in the eastern Donbas region after days of relentless attacks by Russian forces led by the Wagner mercenary group.

The capture of Soledar, a small town with a former population of 11,000, located 15 kilometers northeast of Bakhmut, would put Ukrainian forces in the area in danger of being encircled, disrupt Ukrainian lines of communication, and it would offer Russia a possible avenue of rapprochement against Bakhmut.

According to him UK Ministry of Defense, some of the fighting has focused on the entrances to the 200 km long disused salt mine tunnels that run beneath the district. Both sides are likely concerned that they could be used to infiltrate behind their lines.

Despite mounting pressure on Bakhmut, Russia is unlikely to engulf the city imminently because Ukrainian forces maintain stable defensive lines in depth and control over supply routes.

The Institute for the Study of War adds that the leader of the Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhincontinues to use reports of the Wagner Group’s success at Soledar, in an attempt to bolster the group’s reputation as an effective fighting force.

Prigozhin will continue to use the confirmed and manufactured success in Soledar and Bakhmut to promote the Wagner Group as the only Russian force in Ukraine capable of securing tangible gains, the Institute reports say.

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