Soledar Battle Continues To Rage As Kremlin Undercuts Wagner Success Claims

The Russian defense ministry and the Wagner Group seem as interested in claiming credit and undermining each other as they are in actually capturing Soledar - which they have, so far, failed to do. JL 

Holly Ellyatt reports in CNBC:

There were confusing reports Wednesday as to whether Russian and Wagner Group forces had taken control of the town, after the head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed his force had captured the town. The Kremlin said Wednesday, however, that reporters should await a statement from the Ministry of Defense on the status of Soledar. Later, the ministry said its own elite airborne units had surrounded Soledar. The update from the Russian Ministry of Defense was seen as a bid by the Russian military - which has been criticized by Prigozhin - to undermine the Wagner Group leader.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again rejected Russia’s claims to have to have encircled and captured the salt-mining town of Soledar in Donetsk, saying fighting continues to hold the town.

“The fighting continues. The Donetsk direction is holding out. And we do everything, without stopping for a single day, to strengthen Ukrainian defense,” he said in his nightly address.

There were confusing reports Wednesday as to whether Russian and Wagner Group (a private Russian military company) forces had taken control of the town, after the head of the Wagner Group Yevgeny Prigozhin claimed Tuesday that his force had captured the town.

The Kremlin said Wednesday, however, that reporters should await a statement from the Ministry of Defense on the status of Soledar. Later, the ministry said its own elite airborne units had surrounded Soledar from the north and south and that “assault squads” were fighting in the town center.

The update from the Russian Ministry of Defense was seen by analysts as a bid by the Russian military — which has been criticized by Prigozhin — to assert its authority over, and to undermine, the Wagner Group leader. In addition, President Vladimir Putin’s military reshuffle on Wednesday, in which he put loyalist Gen. Valery Gerasimov in charge of troops fighting in Ukraine and replacing Gen. Sergei Surovikin — who was supported by Prigozhin — has also been seen as part of this power struggle between the Russian military, and Prigozhin and his Wagner Group.