Lotan said (Le Temps) that what is happening in the Ukrainian Solidar is a real massacre, and that the Russians have disguised themselves as Ukrainians to kill more ferociously, noting that there are violations of the Geneva Conventions in this city that the two parties are competing to control, and its fate is still unclear since Moscow declared its occupation. .
And this Swiss newspaper stated - in a report by its special envoy to the region, Boris Mabilards - that smoke is rising from everywhere, and that with close-up binoculars, huge buildings turned into piles of rubble can be seen throughout the city located less than 10 kilometers from Bakhmut, which was Its population was just over 10,000 a year ago.
The reporter asked about the importance of this hill, where a few hundred civilians now live in cellars where corpses accumulate, referring to what the Ukrainian forces say that the mercenaries of the Wagner Group waged a "dirty" war there that does not respect human life or the Geneva Conventions, so that some are now firing On Solidar, the Ukrainian "human meat grinder of the East".
The largest salt mine
Despite the Russians claiming to have taken control of Solidar for nearly a week, what we have been hearing of explosions and bullets over the past two days - the reporter says - testifies that fierce battles are still taking place, even if only a few buildings remain in the hands of the Ukrainian soldiers at the exit of the city towards the entrance of the largest salt mine in Europe, according to a wounded soldier evacuated to Bakhmut.
This soldier confirmed that the road between Bakhmut and Sloviansk - which military experts say is strategic and that its capture would allow Russian forces to advance towards Sloviansk - is still under the control of the Ukrainians.
We walk over the dead bodies of our comrades
A Ukrainian officer - who preferred not to be named - said that the war is taking place with small arms from one building to another, and it is almost a fist fight, as the two sides fight, leaving behind the bodies, adding, "We always evacuate our dead, but the Russians do not care. Sometimes they leave their dead in the middle of the street." And they end up frozen."
The reporter attributed to what he described as a Wagner mercenary who was captured by the Ukrainians, "We have no choice but to advance under enemy bullets. Leaders point their weapons at us to force us to advance, and whoever refuses or retreats is systematically killed. We walk over the corpses of our fighters to advance towards the enemy before we fall dead and others trample on us." ".
The commander of the Georgian Corps of the Ukrainian army's intelligence service said that the Wagner Group, in addition to disdaining the lives of its mercenaries, does not hesitate to violate the Geneva Conventions, as "Wagner's men wear Ukrainian uniforms to deceive us in Solidar. We don't know where they found it. Did they make it or steal it from our dead?" ".
The reporter concluded that the Russians' control of Solidar, if confirmed, would not change the course of the war, despite Wagner's influential chief Yevgeny Progogin deliberately exaggerating the economic and strategic importance of Solidar to turn this small city and its salt mine into a possible brilliant victory that crowns the commitment of his mercenaries, even if the Russian army claims that He played a major role in this success.