Some ten and a half months after the start of the offensive war against Ukraine, the situation in the Russian-annexed areas in eastern Ukraine is “difficult”, according to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“In some areas, fighting continues,” the Kremlin chief added in a conversation with government officials. However, the sometimes very high losses on both sides are “no reason to pause and postpone the most pressing issues,” said the head of state.
Russia attacked neighboring Ukraine at the end of February last year. In September, Putin annexed Donetsk and Luhansk to the east, and Kherson and Zaporizhia to the south. However, the Russian forces have not taken larger parts of it or have already lost it to the Ukrainians. Along with the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which was annexed in 2014 in violation of international law, Russian forces currently control about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory.
Bitter battle for Soledar and Bachmut
Recently, there have been several reports about the strategically important city of Bakhmut and the suburb of Soledar in the Donetsk region. While the Kremlin and especially the Wagner mercenary group claim to already have the salt mining town under control, Kiev strongly denies this. In fact, heavy fighting is reportedly still taking place in the city centre.
Ukraine’s defense ministry tweeted late Tuesday: “Even after colossal losses, Russia is still frantically trying to capture Soledar – home to Europe’s largest salt mine.” Deputy Defense Secretary Hanna Maliar said the battle for Soledar is still raging. The enemy ignores the heavy losses of their units and continues to attack. “The approaches to our positions are strewn with the corpses of enemy combatants. Our soldiers are holding the fortress valiantly.”
Soledar is considered an important building block of the Ukrainian fortress wall for the agglomeration between Slowyansk and Kramatorsk. It was the last metropolitan area in the Donbass region still controlled by the Ukrainians.
Putin demands development plan for occupied territories
In addition to military operations, Moscow now wants to focus more on the reconstruction and further development of the occupied territories. Putin instructed his cabinet on Wednesday to develop a plan for infrastructure and social services in the Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the coming months.
Source: Krone
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