Russia's humiliating U-turn as Wagner mercenaries take credit for capture of Soledar

The Russian military was forced to admit on Friday night that a powerful mercenary group had captured the town of Soledar and not its own troops.

After Ukrainian forces withdrew on Friday, Russia's ministry of defence initially proclaimed that its “brave paratroopers” had “liberated” the small salt mining town in Donbas

However, that version of events was swiftly contradicted by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the mercenary Wagner group, who said “not a single paratrooper" was involved.

In a humiliating and rare recognition of the private fighting force, the Russian military later published a new statement saying: "This combat mission was successfully implemented by the courageous and selfless actions of the volunteers of the Wagner assault squads."

In a late-night video address on Friday, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, maintained that the battle was not yet over and his forces were continuing to fight Russian troops in Soledar and other cities in eastern Ukraine.

Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for Ukraine's eastern military command, also told Reuters by telephone that Soledar had not been captured. "Our units are there, the town is not under Russian control," he said.

The Kremlin's public row with Wagner threatened to undermine its first significant victory since declaring the Luhansk region of Donbas conquered in July. Since then, the Russian army has been routed from around Kharkiv in the northeast and has withdrawn from Kherson in the south.

It also highlights the growing power and influence of the Wagner Group, which has the Kremlin's backing but operates separately from the Russian army.

The Kremlin had ordered Wagner out into the mainstream earlier this year to reinforce its regular forces, allowing it to recruit openly across Russia and from its prisons, but the Wagner chain of command slowly separated and now only answers to Mr Prigozhin.

Confidence in the Russian military has fallen after its battlefield defeats and the chaotic mobilisation of 320,000 men in September. Putin has tinkered with his military commanders in Ukraine, appointing his third general to run the invasion this week.

Sergei Markov, a well-connected former Kremlin adviser and political commentator, revealed the meeting in St Petersburg between Mr Prigozhin and Putin which “recognised the heroism of the Wagner soldiers”.

Mr Prigozhin is called “Putin’s chef” because of his Kremlin catering contracts and has close ties with the Russian leader.

Arguments between Wagner and the Russian army have intensified over the past few months and Mr Prigozhin has begun regularly accusing the Russian military of incompetence and promoting Wagner fighters as an alternative army of heroic can-do fighters.

The Russian military views Mr Prigozhin and Wagner with disdain, as a ragtag bunch of untrustworthy ex-convicts.

Some analysts have said that the capture of Soledar may allow Russian forces to outflank Ukrainian soldiers in the battle for Bakhmut, the neighbouring town which has been heavily fought over since August, but others have said that its only real value is to curry favour with Mr Putin who was desperate for a battlefield victory.

Earlier, Mr Prigozhin had said that his fighters had “cleansed” the town of Ukrainian soldiers but there are reports that some had fled into the miles of salt mines.

“The whole city is littered with the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers. There can be no talk of any humanitarian corridor. Let's start clearing the mines,” he said. Wagner mercenaries have regularly been accused of war crimes.

Andriy Yermak, the head of the office of the Ukrainian president, has described battles around the town and Bakhmut as the “Verdun of the 21st century”.

The Battle of Verdun was the longest battle of the First World War and led to huge casualties.