Chief geologist: Tunnels in Ukraine’s Soledar salt mines don’t lead to Bakhmut

The tunnels in the mines of Ukraine’s Soledar are 150 to 300 meters deep and don’t connect to Bakhmut, the officials said, Report informs referring to The Wall Street Journal.

“There is no passage to Bakhmut through the mines,” said Viktoria Skrypnyk, the chief geologist of Artemsil.

Losing the mine would present another problem for Ukraine, given that in 2021 it provided 95% of the country’s salt. The price of salt in Ukraine increased by up to five times when the mine first closed in April, Artemsil’s Volodymyr Nizienko said.

The fight for Soledar is part of a broader attempt by Russia to control the city of Bakhmut, a gateway to the Ukrainian-held half of the Donetsk region claimed by Moscow.

Bakhmut has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance in the war - and the conflict’s main battlefield in recent weeks.

Soledar, which means “salt gift,” lies a dozen miles from Bakhmut and has seen war before. The mine was destroyed in World War II and took years to rebuild.

Artemsil officials say it is unlikely the mine and its tunnels could have much of a military purpose because equipment wouldn’t be able to fit in its elevators. When the company brings mining-related equipment down, it has to first dismantle it before rebuilding it in the tunnels. It is unclear whether the mine could be used to store munitions away from the sort of attacks that have destroyed previous Russian stores of bullets and shells.