#soledar

[folklorespring]

Football field in a salt mine. Soledar, Ukraine

[historicalfirearms]

Wagner Finds Only Antique Weapons In Ukraine's Underground Weapons Cache

At the beginning of May 2023, Russian media shared a flurry of videos from salt mines near Soledar. The videos showcased a captured weapons storage depot said to be inside part of the mine complex which was recently captured by Russian private military contractor unit Wagner. In this video we'll look at the videos to see what weapon systems were captured at the depot. The weapons largely appear to be damaged or obsolescent. 

Be sure to check out our accompanying article for this video here. 

[thelittleukrainianwell-armedgirl]

(c) @ neivanmade

[blueiscoool]

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HIMARS

A Ukrainian drone watches Russian terrorist movements in Soledar before directing a devastating HIMARS strike on the house they begin to gather in. 25+ Wagner terrorists killed.

💀

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up January 24-25, 2023

Under the cut:

The United States said on Wednesday it would supply Ukraine with 31 of its most advanced battle tanks after Germany broke a taboo with a similar announcement, moves hailed by Kyiv as a potential turning point in its battle to repel Russia's invasion. The U.S. decision to deliver M1 Abrams tanks helped break a diplomatic logjam with Germany over how to best to help Kyiv in its war with Russia, which hours earlier had condemned Berlin's decision to provide Leopard 2 tanks as a dangerous provocation.

Norway plans to send Leopard 2A4 to Ukraine, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said on Jan. 25. He didn’t specify the number of tanks Norway would send to Ukraine, but Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv wrote on Jan. 24 that Norway is considering sending eight out of the 36 Leopard 2A4 tanks it currently has.

Two Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut said Wednesday that they feared an attempted encirclement of the city by Russian forces, though they did not expect a dramatic change in the coming days. “The situation in the city is very alarming, but we keep fighting,” one soldier, whom CNN is not identifying for security reasons, said.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on allies in possession of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to send “as many of them as possible” now that Germany has said it will give Kyiv tanks from Berlin’s own inventory and approve their re-export from other countries to Ukraine. Pledges made by at least five countries mean the Ukrainian military is in line to receive dozens of the tanks. (There is a breakdown of which country has pledged what in this story.)

The Ukrainian military withdrew from the salt-mining town of Soledar “to save the lives of the personnel,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, said on Jan. 25.

“The United States said on Wednesday it would supply Ukraine with 31 of its most advanced battle tanks after Germany broke a taboo with a similar announcement, moves hailed by Kyiv as a potential turning point in its battle to repel Russia's invasion.

The U.S. decision to deliver M1 Abrams tanks helped break a diplomatic logjam with Germany over how to best to help Kyiv in its war with Russia, which hours earlier had condemned Berlin's decision to provide Leopard 2 tanks as a dangerous provocation.

Washington had been wary of the idea of deploying the difficult-to-maintain Abrams but had to change tack to persuade Germany to send its more easily operated Leopard 2 tanks - the workhorse of NATO armies across Europe - to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden announced the U.S. decision in remarks at the White House, saying the tanks were needed to help the Ukrainians "improve their ability to maneuver in open terrain."

Biden thanked Germany for its move and listed further military hardware that NATO allies and other European countries were supplying. "Germany has really stepped up," he said.

"The expectation on the part of Russia is we’re going to break up,” Biden said of the United States and European allies. “But we are fully, totally and thoroughly united.”

Kyiv has been calling for months for Western main battle tanks that would give its forces greater firepower, protection and mobility to break through long-static front lines and potentially reclaim occupied territory in the east and south.

Senior Biden administration officials said it would take some months for the Abrams to be delivered and described the move as providing for Ukraine's long-term defence.

"There is no offensive threat to Russia (itself)," Biden said. Moscow increasingly casts the war as a perilous face-off between Russia and the U.S.-led NATO alliance.”-via Reuters

~

“Norway plans to send Leopard 2A4 to Ukraine, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram said on Jan. 25.

He didn’t specify the number of tanks Norway would send to Ukraine, but Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv wrote on Jan. 24 that Norway is considering sending eight out of the 36 Leopard 2A4 tanks it currently has.

Norway said on Jan. 5 that it had already sent 10,000 ammunition shells to Ukraine. The Norwegian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Jan. 4 that donated artillery shells can be used in the M109 howitzers that Norway has donated in the past.

Germany confirmed on Jan. 25 that it would send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries, such as Norway, to send their own Leopards to Kyiv.

The long-awaited tanks will be delivered from the stocks of the German army, Chancellor Olaf Scholz told Bloomberg in an emailed statement.“This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability,” Scholz said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

“We are acting in a way that is closely agreed and coordinated internationally.””-via Kyiv Independent

~

“Two Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the eastern city of Bakhmut said Wednesday that they feared an attempted encirclement of the city by Russian forces, though they did not expect a dramatic change in the coming days.

“The situation in the city is very alarming, but we keep fighting,” one soldier, whom CNN is not identifying for security reasons, said.

The unnamed soldier in Bakhmut, with whom CNN has been in constant contact for weeks, said that “there are intense street battles for every house in the east, northeast and southeast,” but said that, while the Russian threat continued to grow, he did not believe that the Russians were likely to make any significant progress in the coming days.

“This is very worrying for us, and for everyone who is sane, especially those who saw what happened to the people surrounded in Soledar. And we were there. And no one wants it to happen again," the soldier said. Ukraine’s deputy defense minister acknowledged that Russia is “intensifying their pressure” on the eastern city of Bakhmut.

“The enemy throws a significant number of personnel, weapons and military equipment into the battle, trying to break through our defense, suffers significant losses, but does not abandon its plans,” Hanna Maliar said on Telegram. “Now in Donbas, against their superiority in the number of soldiers and weapons, we have the advantage of professional military command and courage of soldiers.””-via CNN

~

“The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has called on allies in possession of German-made Leopard 2 tanks to send “as many of them as possible” now that Germany has said it will give Kyiv tanks from Berlin’s own inventory and approve their re-export from other countries to Ukraine.

An aide to Ukraine’s Presidential Administration Mykhailo Podolyak told CNN last week that Kyiv wanted “300 to 400 of these tanks,” which he said could, “sharply accelerate the tempo of the war and initiate the closing stages.”

CNN cannot confirm the total number of Leopard 2 tanks to be delivered, but pledges made by at least five countries mean the Ukrainian military is in line to receive dozens of the tanks.

It comes as the United States said it will send 31 of its M1 Abrams to Ukraine, President Joe Biden announced on Wednesday. The UK also previously announced it will send 14 of their Challenger 2 tanks.

Here’s a look at what countries have pledged so far:

Germany: Berlin has said it will provide 14 Leopard 2 tanks, which it described as “a first step."

Poland: A top foreign policy adviser to the Polish President has told CNN that Warsaw wanted to send “one company” of tanks. Marcin Przydacz, Head of the President’s International Policy Bureau, would not specify exactly how many tanks Poland intended to send but said that a company of tanks was usually made up of “between 10 and 14 Leopard 2 vehicles.”

The Netherlands: Prime Minister Mark Rutte told CNN affiliate RTL News on Wednesday that his government would “seriously consider” purchasing the 18 Leopard 2 tanks it leases from Germany and sending them to Ukraine. The Netherlands doesn’t own any of the tanks.

Norway: Two Oslo-based newspapers reported on Tuesday that the Norwegian government was considering whether to send some of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to Reuters. Dagens Naeringsliv reported that Norway might contribute between 4 and 8 of the country’s 36 Leopard 2 tanks. The Norwegian defense minister told CNN: “We do not wish to comment on these deliberations or any ongoing or future contributions.”

Spain: Defense Minister Margarita Robles has said Madrid is willing to send some of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Spanish state news agency EFE reported Wednesday. However Robles said it was not immediately possible to determine how many of the tanks might be sent.

Portugal: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that Portugal was among the countries “willing to provide” tanks to Ukraine. On Friday, the Portuguese Minister of Defense reiterated to Western officials at a meeting in Ramstein, Germany, Portugal’s “offer of training in this typology of fighting vehicle, and expressed the Portuguese government’s willingness to identify, in coordination with its partners, ways of endowing Ukraine with this capacity.””-via CNN

~

“The Ukrainian military withdrew from the salt-mining town of Soledar “to save the lives of the personnel,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, a spokesman for Ukraine's Eastern Military Command, said on Jan. 25

This is the first time Ukraine has confirmed its withdrawal from the town, located in Donetsk Oblast, ten kilomteres north of the embattled city of Bakhmut. While Russia had claimed complete victory in Soledar by Jan. 13, Ukraine repeatedly said that fighting still raged in the town.

In a commentary to Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, Cherevatyi said that Ukraine was able to exhaust Russian troops, making it more difficult for them to continue its offensive in the Bakhmut sector.

There was no encirclement or capture of Ukrainian troops before the withdrawal from Soledar, according to Cherevaty.

“They completed the main task,” Cherevaty told Suspilne, adding that Ukrainain forces remained outside the outskirts of Soledar, strengthening defensive lines.

Neither the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces nor Ukrainian officials have made a statement about the loss of Soledar yet.

Earlier, the Kyiv Independent’s sources in the military, as well as international monitors, all fully agreed Ukraine no longer controls the town.

Russia’s capture of Soledar is its first tangible success since its last victory in early July, when it seized the Ukrainain stronghold of Lysychansk in the mostly occupied Luhansk Oblast.”-via Kyiv Independent

[pretordh]

Heavy fighting continues in Soledar

[berndsx4]

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[chrysocomae]

[tomorrowusa]

Putin is making the Soviet involvement in Afghanistan look like the good old days.

Russian fatalities as of Sunday are now greater than the individual populations of 21 US state capitals. That number surpassed the population of Springfield, Illinois (114,394) a couple of days ago.

FYI: Monday is Day 337 of Putin’s two-day “special operation”.

The current project (not counting murdering Ukrainian civilians) by Russia is the attempt to capture the town of Soledar with its salt mines. Even if the Russians succeed, it’s mostly a useless effort which has been costing Russia thousands of lives. A geologist describes the mines of Soledar.

Ukraine could always copy Tywin Lannister and simply flood those tunnels if Russia captures them.

[taiwantalk]

As I’ve said before, Russians are applying pressure to prevent a Croatian type of winter rout to russian forces. the fact is the fate is sealed for Russian forces and any costly gain in territory is only another inch of land to which russians troops to surrender on by the end of March.

[immaculatasknight]

No hope

[mundua]

[politicoscope]

Soledar Captured

Russian troops completed the liberation of Soledar from the Ukrainian military on the evening of January 12 during the special military operation in Ukraine, Defense Ministry Spokesman Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov reported on Friday. “On the evening of January 12, the liberation of the town of Soledar, which is vital for the continuation of successful offensive operations in the Donetsk…

[alphabetsoup-blogposts]

The lack of praise for his group's role in what would be Russia’s largest battlefield success in months drew a sharp response from Prigozhin.

The millionaire former restaurateur and ally of President Vladimir Putin claimed victory in Soledar on Wednesday, and the Wagner Group posted a photo that appeared to show Prigozhin with fighters in one of the town's salt mines.

In an interview with Russian broadcaster RTVI on Friday, Prigozhin accused the military of “constantly trying to steal Wagner’s victory.”

[blueiscoool]

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Soledar, Ukraine

Ukrainian M113 Armored Ambulance evacuates wounded Ukrainian soldiers in Soledar. Even with the armored vehicle clearly marked ‘Red Cross’ Russia terrorists still fire at it while leaving.

Russian soldiers who are wounded are almost always left to die by their own forces, sometimes helped along with a bullet.

[ukrainenews]

Daily Wrap Up January 10-11, 2023

Under the cut:

Brokering a deal on a safe zone around Ukraine’s Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is getting harder because of military involvement in talks, the head of the U.N nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday. The Soviet-era plant, Europe’s largest, was captured by Russian forces in March, soon after their invasion of Ukraine. It has repeatedly come under fire in recent months, raising fears of a nuclear disaster, Reuters reports.

Fighting is still raging in Soledar, a salt mine town in eastern Ukraine, despite Russian claims that it has gained control of the region. Should Russian troops indeed capture the town, it would mark Moscow’s first gain in the Donbas for months – potentially offering President Vladimir Putin some welcome news after a string of defeats on the battlefield since last summer. The significance of Soledar in military terms is minimal. However, its capture would allow Russian forces, and especially the Wagner mercenary group, to turn their focus on nearby Bakhmut, which has been a target since the summer.

Polish President Andrzej Duda has announced the delivery of a company of modern German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Duda made the announcement at a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda in Lviv on Jan. 11 as part of the “Lublin Triangle” format, the regional partnership established by the three in July 2020.

Russia’s defense minister has appointed Valery Gerasimov as commander of the Joint Group of Forces leading the country's so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine. Gerasimov replaces Sergei Surovikin, who had been appointed to the role on Oct. 8, 2022, and was in charge of Russian forces during their retreat from large swaths of Ukraine’s Kherson region. Surovikin will now serve as a deputy commander, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.

“Brokering a deal on a safe zone around Ukraine’s Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is getting harder because of military involvement in talks, the head of the U.N nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday.

The Soviet-era plant, Europe’s largest, was captured by Russian forces in March, soon after their invasion of Ukraine. It has repeatedly come under fire in recent months, raising fears of a nuclear disaster, Reuters reports.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Grossi said in an interview with Italian public television RAI:

I don’t believe that (an agreement) is impossible, but it is not an easy negotiation … It has become … a longer and more difficult (negotiating) table.

Grossi added the talks have become more complex as they involve not just diplomats, but military officers as well.

He said:

They are playing with fire. A nuclear accident is in nobody’s interest, not even the Russians.”-via The Guardian

~

“Fighting is still raging in Soledar, a salt mine town in eastern Ukraine, despite Russian claims that it has gained control of the region.

Should Russian troops indeed capture the town, it would mark Moscow’s first gain in the Donbas for months – potentially offering President Vladimir Putin some welcome news after a string of defeats on the battlefield since last summer.

The significance of Soledar in military terms is minimal. However, its capture would allow Russian forces, and especially the Wagner mercenary group, to turn their focus on nearby Bakhmut, which has been a target since the summer.

The town of Soledar in Donetsk has been a target for Russian forces since last May. With a pre-war population of about 10,000, it has little strategic value in itself, but is a waypoint in the Russians’ attritional slog westwards. Moscow has struggled for months to attack Bakhmut from the east, but were it to capture Soledar, Moscow would at least be able to approach the city from a different path.

The Russian armed forces have had nothing to celebrate since the beginning of July, and have had to retreat in both Kharkiv to the north and Kherson in southern Ukraine.

The capture of Soledar, despite its now-ruined state, would therefore be rare progress. But it would be symbolic rather than substantive. The Institute for the Study of War said control of Soledar “will not necessarily allow Russian forces to exert control over critical Ukrainian ground lines of communication into Bakhmut,” the larger prize.

“Even taking the most generous Russian claims at face value, the capture of Soledar would not portend an immediate encirclement of Bakhmut,” the think tank added.

But Soledar is of outsize significance to one man: oligarch and Wagner mercenary group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin. His Wagner fighters, many of them former prison inmates, have taken heavy casualties with one wave after another of ground assaults across what has become a battlefield of trenches and mud reminiscent of World War I. After months in which the Russian Ministry of Defense has delivered nothing but retreat, Prigozhin is keen to show that his men deliver.”-via CNN

~

“Polish President Andrzej Duda has announced the delivery of a company of modern German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.

Duda made the announcement at a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Lithuanian counterpart Gitanas Nauseda in Lviv on Jan. 11 as part of the “Lublin Triangle” format, the regional partnership established by the three in July 2020.

“A company of Leopard tanks will be provided as part of the coalition," Duda said at the press conference. A tank company generally consists of ten to a dozen tanks.

It is not clear which countries Duda had in mind with the term "international coalition." The lack of broader coordination among European partners has been consistently presented by Germany as the reason for not taking the lead with delivering Leopards.

Other European nations had previously signaled their readiness to provide the tanks, but also on condition of coordinated action between European states. On Jan. 6, Finland announced that it would be ready to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine "if Europe starts giving" them.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for U.K Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told media that Defense Secretary Ben Wallace had been given instructions by Sunak to move “further and faster with our support for Ukraine including the provision of tanks”, as reported by the Financial Times.

The only main battle tank in service in the British army is the Challenger 2, manufactured in the U.K. since 1998, of which 227 are currently in service.

On Jan 10, Politico reported that France was putting increasing pressure on Berlin to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine ahead of a Franco-German summit on Jan. 22. Poland also exerted pressure on Germany by publicly calling for a broad coalition among Western allies to hand over Leopards.

Poland currently operates around 249 Leopard 2 tanks. These vehicles were aquired over the 2000s as a replacement for the country's Soviet-era t-72 tanks, of which over 230 have already been sent to Ukraine.

At the Lublin Triangle meeting in Lviv, the three leaders discussed support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, as well as questions of Ukraine's EU and NATO integration.

As part of Lithuanian 40 million euro military aid commitment for Ukraine over 2023, Naseda announced the delivery of more air defense systems, though the exact model was not specified.

After months of negotiations, Germany announced on Jan. 5 that it would provide Ukraine with Marder infantry fighting vehicles. The United States jointly announced it would give Ukraine 50 Bradley fighting vehicles on the same day. France said it would provide light tanks.”-via Kyiv Independent

~

“Russia’s defense minister has appointed Valery Gerasimov as commander of the Joint Group of Forces leading the country's so-called “special military operation” in Ukraine.

Gerasimov replaces Sergei Surovikin, who had been appointed to the role on Oct. 8, 2022, and was in charge of Russian forces during their retreat from large swaths of Ukraine’s Kherson region. Surovikin will now serve as a deputy commander, according to a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.

“On 11 January 2023, Russian Defence Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu assigns new leadership of special military operation,” the ministry said Wednesday on its official Telegram channel.

“Chief of General Staff General of the Army Valery Gerasimov has been assigned the commander of the Joint Group of Forces,” it said.

“The deputy commanders are: the Commander-in-Chief of Aerospace Forces General of the Army Sergei Surovikin, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army General of the Army Oleg Salyukov, as well as the Deputy Chief of General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Colonel General Aleksey Kim,” it added.

The ministry said that the changes were necessary because of “the amplified range of tasks, the necessity of closer cooperation between services and branches of the Armed Forces, as well as of improving the quality of all types of maintenance and efficiency of commanding the groups of forces.””-via CNN