06:08'The battles were heavy' - Wagner group soldiers on fighting in transport hub near Soledar *EXCLUSIVE*
Ruptly’s film crew accompanied soldiers with private military company the Wagner group to Sol in the Donetsk People Republic, formerly a transport hub northwest of Soledar which has seen heavy fighting.
Footage shows the troops moving across the field from Soledar towards the village, while artillery shelling can be heard. Troops and journalists are seen taking refuge in a shelter due to reports of a drone in the area, while video also shows damaged houses and cars in the settlement.
"What is happening here now, I will say, is very hot weather. Shelling, heavy equipment is working, mortars are also working. The enemy conducts targeted fire, frequent shellings, very frequent, as you can hear for yourself. These endless shellings," one Wagner group member commented.
Another described his experiences with the fighting itself, claiming that the unit had full control of the village.
"The enemy was pushed away from here. At the moment, the village is being held by our fighters of the Wagner PMC, the battles were not easy, heavy, but still the enemy was pushed away. <…> Now from the enemy, [shelling] is periodically coming at our positions, shelling is being carried out here," he explained.
On Wednesday, Russian Ministry of Defence spokesperson Igor Konashenkov, reported that his country’s armed forces, together with volunteer groups had 'liberated Sol settlement'.
However, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence reported that same morning that its units had "repelled attacks by the occupants in the areas of Belogorovka in Lugansk Region and Sol, Krasnaya Gora, Bakhmut, Kleshcheevka, Vodyane, Nevelske, Marinka, and Pobeda in Donetsk Region." In its morning summary on Thursday, it also announced that its forces had repelled attacks in the village of Sol the previous day.
The Donetsk People’s Republic is one of four regions, also including the Lugansk People’s Republic, Kherson and Zaporozhye, that President Vladimir Putin agreed to admit to the Russian Federation, signing accession documents on September 30.
According to Moscow, it followed referenda in which people living in those areas exercised their right to self-determination and requested to join Russia.
Ukraine and its international allies condemned the move, calling it an annexation of Kiev’s sovereign territory.
06:08Ruptly’s film crew accompanied soldiers with private military company the Wagner group to Sol in the Donetsk People Republic, formerly a transport hub northwest of Soledar which has seen heavy fighting.
Footage shows the troops moving across the field from Soledar towards the village, while artillery shelling can be heard. Troops and journalists are seen taking refuge in a shelter due to reports of a drone in the area, while video also shows damaged houses and cars in the settlement.
"What is happening here now, I will say, is very hot weather. Shelling, heavy equipment is working, mortars are also working. The enemy conducts targeted fire, frequent shellings, very frequent, as you can hear for yourself. These endless shellings," one Wagner group member commented.
Another described his experiences with the fighting itself, claiming that the unit had full control of the village.
"The enemy was pushed away from here. At the moment, the village is being held by our fighters of the Wagner PMC, the battles were not easy, heavy, but still the enemy was pushed away. <…> Now from the enemy, [shelling] is periodically coming at our positions, shelling is being carried out here," he explained.
On Wednesday, Russian Ministry of Defence spokesperson Igor Konashenkov, reported that his country’s armed forces, together with volunteer groups had 'liberated Sol settlement'.
However, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence reported that same morning that its units had "repelled attacks by the occupants in the areas of Belogorovka in Lugansk Region and Sol, Krasnaya Gora, Bakhmut, Kleshcheevka, Vodyane, Nevelske, Marinka, and Pobeda in Donetsk Region." In its morning summary on Thursday, it also announced that its forces had repelled attacks in the village of Sol the previous day.
The Donetsk People’s Republic is one of four regions, also including the Lugansk People’s Republic, Kherson and Zaporozhye, that President Vladimir Putin agreed to admit to the Russian Federation, signing accession documents on September 30.
According to Moscow, it followed referenda in which people living in those areas exercised their right to self-determination and requested to join Russia.
Ukraine and its international allies condemned the move, calling it an annexation of Kiev’s sovereign territory.