The fall of Soledar is a significant political development in the Ukraine war, most especially for Evgeny Prigozhin, the head of Russian private military company, the Wagner Group. The Wagner Group, which has been fighting for control over Bakhmut since Russia’s withdrawal from the Western bank of the Dnipro to its Eastern shore, ending the battle of Kherson. It represents a new stage in the development of Russia’s fighting capability.
In the Telegram channel /concordgroup_official, Prigozhing’s official channel for the Wagner group, Prigozhin made the announcement of his private military company’s breakthrough in post # 1094.
“I would like to confirm the complete liberation of the Soledar’s territory, from which the Ukrainian army has been vanquished. Civilians have been removed, fighters from Ukraine’s armed forces, who refused to surrender, have been annihilated. More than 500 people are dead. The city is covered with the bodies of Ukrainian soldiers. There will be absolutely no discussion of a human corridor. We will be clearing out the salt mines.” [1]
Shortly after the announcement, Prigozhin published a photograph of himself allegedly taken in the salt mines of Soledar where he is seen standing next to fighters from the Wagner Group.
Prigozhin later added to his message that no soldier other than the ones from the Wagner group took part in the seize.
“I want to emphasise that no units except for the fighters of the Wagner PMC took part in the assault on Soledar,” Prigozhin said, whose fighting force of more than 50,000 mercenaries is on schedule now to be portrayed as more competent than Russia’s own conscripts or regular army units.
While the official statistics on the death toll from the battle are likely politicized, the number of dead is likely much higher on both sides.
The breakthrough comes after months of fighting. The Wagner Group, which had been engaged in a direct assault on Bakhmut, a bloody stalemate, since September of this year. Bakhmut, which is 10km (i.e., four miles) to the south of Soledar, continues to be the focus of Russian offensive operations. With Soledar captured to the north of Bakhmut, Bakhmut, whose city is divided by a major river the Bakhmutka, is in danger of encirclement from two positions, Soledar from the city’s north,
Many reporters have bemoaned the battle over Bakhmut is pointless without any significance in terms of strategy. On 11 December 2022, Zelensky, who supports the narrative of the battle of Bakhmut as ‘meaningless,’ he claimed the city had been reduced to “burnt ruins” without any walls standing. More than 97% of its residents have fled. [2]
Bakhmut, however, does not appear to be without significance. ”This is one of the best defense strongholds that Ukraine has along all fronts; it was built up in the course of the 2014 Donbas war,” Mikhail Alexseev, a political science professor at San Diego State University, told Newsweek.
“Control over Bakhmut gives Russia access to more rapid mass advances, particularly toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk—the latter being an important industrial center.” Sloviansk and Kramatorsk are major pathways for a continued offensive to retake the entirety of the Donbas in the Spring.
The Wagner Group’s mercenaries have been fighting to take Soledar for weeks in an apparent effort to encircle Bakhmut, 10km (four miles) to the south, which has been the focus of Russian offensive operations since September.
Acutely aware of the battle’s implications, Poland, from whose country the largest number of foreign mercenaries have joined Ukrainian armed forces, is planning its response in terms of a major escalation.
Coming on the heels of Poland’s push to coerce Germany, which appears to be feigning opposition, to permit the delivery of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, the fall of Soledar is the first major Russian territorial advance since the fall of Mariupol. It is the first major Russian territorial advance since the Kremlin initiated the call for mobilization.
Soledar’s Significance for Prigozhin
Within Russia features are beginning to emerge throughout the factions of ruling elite. These fractures, although latent or altogether underground for the time being, are releasing trace amounts of porous gas throughout the political atmosphere of the country. The Ukraine war is destabilizing the status quo ante.
Soledar therefore contains immense significance. Prigozhin, who, prior to becoming the head of the Russian private military company, catered for Vladimir Putin as a chef, the battle raises his status among circles of Russia’s ruling elite. Now Prigozhin is the leader of the military group whose fighting secured a victory over Soledar.
Ramzan Kadirov
Prigozhin is not the only one in Moscow vying for power in the Kremlin. Another is Ramzan Kadirov.
In response to the fall of Lyman by Russian armed forces, Kadirov, for instance, criticized the commander of Russia’s “Army Group Center,” on whose shoulders responsibility for the defense of Lyman fell, for his failure to defend the city.
“It is not offensive that Lapin is not a gifted military commander. What is offensive is that the leaders from on high in the General Staff have covered for him. If it were up to me, I would have immediately demoted Lapin, stripped him of his military metals, and with an automatic in hand dispatched him to the front so that he could wash away his shame with blood.” [3]
At the same time, Prigozhin made similar comments, calling Lapin a “loafer” who needs to be replaced immediately.
These comments, which are extraordinary for their openness in a culture of extreme political repression even at the highest levels of government, reveal the extent to which the Ukraine war is impacting Russia’s political system.
It stands to mention Ramzan Kadirov is one of Putin’s most vocal proponents of the Ukraine war. Since the war’s beginning, Kadirov dispatched no less than 21 thousand Chechen soldiers from Chechnya to fight on behalf of the Russian armed forces. [4]
Kadirov’s public announcement of the actual amount of Chechen soldiers fighting in the Ukraine war is an obvious display and direct projection of his power and his ambitions. Kadirov’s numbers, however, pale in comparison to those of Prigozhin.
In an article published by the Saudi Arabian news channel, Al-Arabiya (i.e., العربية), the article details Kadirov’s contribution of manpower to Putin’s Ukrainian war effort. In the article there is video montage depicting Kadirov Kadirov in front of massive amounts of Chechen soldiers lined upon row upon row.
In the initial depiction of the photomontage, the view strolls through a panoramic view of these rows upon rows of Chechen soldiers dressed in black. During the stroll, chants reminiscent of what might expect from a fascistic leader beguiling his troops for battle, are heard repeatedly in the background, raising the specter of a great power ambition for Kadirov.
No other leader from the regions of Russia, autonomous or otherwise, maintain a position of power equivalent to or even remotely close to what Kadirov continues to cultivate in Chechnya. No other region has celebrated militarism or Russian militarism in Ukraine with as much enthusiasm as Kadirov. It points to a serious fault within the power structures of Russia that the Ukraine has brought into sharper relief and exacerbated.
At the end of the article, the author mentions the global consequences of the Ukraine war. The author writes: “The Ukraine war, however, is a cause for concern around the world, especially in light of the rising costs of inflation in the economy, the skyrocketing price of grain or wheat, as well as the price of oil and energy.”
The article mentions how the United States has since the launch of the Russia’s special military operation on February 24th, 2022, “Washington has stood by Kiev, supporting it with humanitarian and military aid by pouring billions of dollars into Ukrainian armed forces.” [6]
As the Ukraine war continues to rage, while countries like Poland seek its escalation, Russia is becoming increasingly unstable. In response to the instability, politicians such as Prigozhin or Ramzan Kadirov are seeking to advance their ambitions, none of which make any pretense for democracy, let alone Russian workers.
With both Prigozhin and Kadirov in charge of militaries, which are operating in isolation from Russia’s own armed forces, their continued ascension and the pursuit of their ambitions within the inner circles Russia’s ruling elite contains all the trappings of a palace coup.
Against the ascent of Prigozhin and Kadirov the working class in Russia must pursue its own ambitions. The Russian working class united in a struggle against imperialism, militarism or the historically obsolete nation-state system and the capitalist social order is the one force that can stop the looming catastrophe—not just the Ukraine war but within Russia itself and over the future of its political institutions.
References
[1] – [“ «Еще раз хочу подтвердить полное освобождение и зачистку территории Соледара от подразделений украинской армии. Мирные граждане выведены, бойцы ВСУ, не пожелавшие сдаться в плен, уничтожены. Убитыми около 500 человек. Весь город усеян трупами украинских военнослужащих. Ни о каком гуманитарном коридоре речи быть не может. Приступаем к зачистке шахт».”, https://t.me/concordgroup_official/259, January 11th, 2023]
[2] – [“Zelenskyy says Russia reduced Bakhmut city to a ‘burned ruin’”, www.aljazeera.com. December 12th, 2022]
[3] – [“Обидно не то, что Лапин бездарь. А то, что его покрывают наверху руководители в Генштабе. Будь моя воля, я бы разжаловал Лапина до рядового, лишил бы наград и с автоматом в руках отправил бы на передовую смывать кровью свой позор”, – писал Кадыров. С ним согласился Евгений Пригожин, написавший о “бездельниках”, которые “должны немедленно убраться”, www.svoboda.org, January 11th, 2023]
[4] – [“قديروف: 21 ألف شيشاني يشاركون في العملية الروسية بأوكرانيا” ~ “Kadirov: 21 thousand Chechens are taking part in Russia’s special military operation”, alarabiya, 1/10/23]
[5] – [“إلا أن هذا الصراع أثار العديد من المخاوف حول العالم، لاسيما مع ارتفاع نسب التضخم الاقتصادي، وارتفاع أسعار الحبوب والقمح، فضلا عن النفط والطاقة.” ~ “Kadirov: 21 thousand Chechens are taking part in Russia’s special military operation”, alarabiya, 1/10/23]
[6] – [“يذكر أنه منذ انطلاق العملية العسكرية الروسية على الأراضي الأوكرانية في 24 فبراير الماضي، وقفت واشنطن إلى جانب كييف، داعمة إياها بالمساعدات الإنسانية والعسكرية، مغدقة مليارات الدولارات من أجل تسليح القوات الأوكرانية.” ~ “Kadirov: 21 thousand Chechens are taking part in Russia’s special military operation”, alarabiya, 1/10/23]