the donetsk region. well, among those killed in eastern ukraine last week was denys sosnenko. he died while carrying out the dangerous task of retrieving the bodies of civilians and soldiers. he was buried by friends and family in the town of sloviansk over the weekend. my colleague andrew harding has more now on his story and i just want to warn you, you might find some of andrew s report distressing. fresh snow and a funeral in the don donbas. the 22 year old was a body collector. his mother is led towards his open coffin. last year, we met denys, standing in the background here, with his team of volunteers close to the front lines, a grim and dangerous job scouring ukraine s battlefields for abandoned bodies. ukrainian and russian soldiers alike. now he is being buried, a few
sloviansk and kramatorsk which i heavily defended. it is to impose costs on the russians, but they may be considering whether it is worth the cost. but this is an example of something called sunk costs, both sides have invested so much in the form of casualties and resources that they would both find it difficult now to withdraw and we will see what happens now over the next couple of weeks in bakhmut. find next couple of weeks in bakhmut. and what ou next couple of weeks in bakhmut. and what you make of the russian tactics as regards kyiv at the moment and this targeting of civilian infrastructure, it seems stomach yes, that started in october, it is a strategic air campaign the aim of which is to undermine the morale of the ukrainian people. the ukrainian people. historically, these campaigns the ukrainian people. historically, these campaigns have the ukrainian people. historically, these campaigns have never - the ukrainian people. historically, i these campaigns have never w
Russian and Ukrainian forces were engaged in intense fighting on Wednesday over the town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine - a stepping stone in Moscow's push to capture the entire Donbas region - with the Russians appearing to have the upper hand. The mercenary group Wagner, which has spearheaded the assault, on Tuesday claimed to have taken control of the small salt-mining town but said pockets of Ukrainian resistance were holding out in the centre.
Britain said on Tuesday that Russian and forces of the Wagner contract group were probably now in control of most of the town, in the industrial Donbas region, after advances in the last four days. Seizing Soledar would be advantageous to Russian forces as they fight for control of the city of Bakhmut, a few kilometres (miles) to the southwest, where troops from both sides have been taking heavy losses in some of the most intense trench warfare since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 11 months ago.
administration and nathalie tocci director of italy s institute of international affairs. hello welcome to the programme. the russian forces are making gains in eastern ukraine and moving in on the mining town of soledar. over the past four days, supported by mercenaries from the wagner group, they have been fighting intense battles for control of a tunnel network which forms part of the town s salt mines. soledar is 6 miles north of bakhmut, a city which sits on a strategic supply line between donetsk and luhansk. if russia were to take both soledar and bakhmut then that would open the way to bigger cities in the east, like kramatorsk and sloviansk. president zelensky says the new front line is littered with bodies. translation: and what did russia want to win there? i