Russian mercenaries claim territory in brutal, violent fight in eastern Ukraine

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• Geoff Bennett:

  Moscow has announced a new commander for the war in Ukraine and claimed victory in one of the bloodiest battles in more than 10 months of war.

  The fight for key cities in Eastern Ukraine has barely moved for months. Today, Russia said it achieved its first territorial gain in Ukraine since July. But Kyiv says the battle continues.

  Nick Schifrin reports.

• Nick Schifrin:

  The Ukrainian soldiers who have spent six months trying to defend every street, every corner in Soledar say the battle has felt like World War II, a brutal, violent fight over a small patch of land that has become a wasteland; 10,000 people used to live here.

  Today, soldiers say it's full of craters from constant artillery and the smell of death. Russia's gains thanks to the Wagner Group's mercenaries, many of them criminals recruited from prison. Ukrainian forces locate them with drones and fire using heavy guns and newly arrived mobile German artillery.

  The fight has killed and wounded thousands, including Ukrainian actor and volunteer Dmytro Linartovych.

• Dmytro Linartovych, Ukrainian Actor:

  Remember that we are on God-given land. We will never be broken. We are winning. Glory to Ukraine.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Soledar is a small mining town, part of the eastern Donetsk region not controlled by Russia. It is just northeast of Bakhmut, a logistical hub that Russia hopes to encircle. A Russian victory would be the first territory it gained in more than six months.

  Today, Wagner mercenaries claimed that victory and posted a photo inside what they said is one of Soledar's salt mines, with founder Yevgeny Prigozhin. He claimed the remaining Ukrainian resistance was limited in an audio message.

• Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russian Mercenary (through translator):

  Wagner units have taken control of the entire territory of Soledar. A cauldron has been formed in the center of the city where urban fighting is going on.

• Nick Schifrin:

  The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called that propaganda.

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukrainian President (through translator):

  They will present this to their society to support mobilization and give hope to those who support aggression. But the fighting continues. The Donetsk units are holding out.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Russia's primary local target is Bakhmut, where Ukrainian resistance is relentless, even with Soviet era guns. Much of the city of 70,000 is now empty and in ruins.

  The few who've remained, including 75-year-old Olha, constantly reminded of what's been stolen and destroyed.

• Olha, Bakhmut Resident (through translator):

  Dear God, our town used to be so beautiful. There were roses everywhere, flowers. It was clean. Everything was kept in order.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And then it's time to go. The shelling gets too close. But Olha stands there. She has nowhere else to go.

  And to discuss the significance of the fight for Soledar and Bakhmut, I'm joined by Nataliya Bugayova of the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

  Welcome back to the "NewsHour."

  You heard President Zelenskyy right there say that Russia was using Soledar as a piece of propaganda. Is this moment as much about the information war as it is about any gains on the battlefield?

  Nataliya Bugayova, Institute for the Study of War: Thanks, Nick.

  Yes, absolutely, Russia is trying to score an informational win in Soledar at an enormous cost and for rather limited gain. The informational value of Soledar to Russia is higher than the actual military value.

  Let's not forget that we're 10 months into the war, and Russia lost a lot of the territory that it seized originally, and it still cannot control fully even Luhansk and Donetsk regions. So Soledar and Bakhmut are efforts to create perception that Russia can still advance and not just hold territory and retreat.

  And Russia is trying to portray it as a major area that Ukraine — that Russia has been seizing. Yevgeny Prigozhin, who's the financier of Wagner Group, is also exaggerating the cultural and economic value of Soledar for his own gain, as he's trying to position himself and Wagner Group as effective combat force.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And is there a military significance if the Wagner Group, if Russia is able to seize Soledar and therefore threaten Bakhmut a little bit more effectively than it has been in the past?

• Nataliya Bugayova:

  Yes, Russia has been trying to establish control over Ukrainians' ground lines of communication in the area, because Bakhmut sits on the critical highway, as well as at the intersection of several ground lines of communication.

  But even if Russia takes Soledar, it isn't clear that it can fully establish control over those lines, as well as I think the chance of some major breakthrough or further Russian advance after Soledar, which is what Russian media is trying to portray as a possibility, are also unlikely.

  And I really want to emphasize that Soledar is — comes at a great cost to Russia in terms of expending a lot of their combat-capable manpower in pursuit of limited gains.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Why has it been so important for Ukraine to continue this fight for so long?

• Nataliya Bugayova:

  The fact that Ukraine's relentless defense pinned down Russia in those areas is actually preventing Russia from taking a breather on the battlefield.

  And it's a critical point, because it helps Ukraine to preserve its momentum on the battlefield, and Ukraine now setting conditions for the largest-scale offensive later this winter and the spring, as Ukraine officials have mentioned several times and the offense that the West should support at a large scale.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Today, Moscow announced a new operational commander in Ukraine. It's a familiar name, their equivalent to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, who replaces General Sergei Surovikin, who was demoted to deputy just about three months after getting the job.

  What's the significance of that announcement?

• Nataliya Bugayova:

  I would say a couple of things.

  One, it's also one of the reasons, I think, why Russia wants to score an informational win on the battlefield. Secondly, regardless of the rotations of the senior leadership that Vladimir Putin is doing, it is unlikely to change fundamentally alter the structural problems that led to Russian mistakes and setbacks on the battlefield in the first place.

  Therefore, I do not think it will have the immediate battlefield impact that the Kremlin seeks to generate.

• Nick Schifrin:

  And, finally, let's talk about Western weapons support.

  Today, the British prime minister's spokesman said that the U.K. was considering sending tanks to Ukraine. Poland said that it would send Leopard tanks to Ukraine if Germany gave it permission to. Ukraine has been asking for Leopards and tanks for many months.

  Is there now momentum, in Europe especially, to send tanks to Ukraine? And how important are those tanks to the fight?

• Nataliya Bugayova:

  I think it's a critical one at this point, because those systems are required for the large-scale counteroffensive that we're talking about that is likely to be this winter and into the spring.

  What would be more effective if those systems came in bulk in a way that helps to supply Ukraine units consistently, cohesively in a way that makes it easier to resupply them.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Yes. And Ukrainian officials are asking for hundreds of tanks. And it's not clear that the West is certainly willing to send that.

  And, lastly, the U.S. has announced that it will start just in the next week perhaps training Ukrainians on the Patriot missile system. How important is that system inside of Ukraine's larger air defenses?

• Nataliya Bugayova:

  Boosting Ukraine's capability to protect its airspace is critical now and will be critical a month from now as well, precisely because Russia's intent regarding Ukraine, the Kremlin's maximalist objectives have not changed, aren't likely to change, and, most importantly, will outlast Putin, most likely by design.

  One of the key points earlier in this war is the fact that Russia was not able to establish air superiority in Ukraine. So, continuing to boost Ukraine's ability to protect its airspace is critical.

• Nick Schifrin:

  Nataliya Bugayova, thank you very much.

• Nataliya Bugayova:

  Thank you Nick.