Arizona state university.
>> Moscow has announced a new
commander for the war in Ukraine
and claimed victory in one of
the bloodiest battles in with in
10 months of war.
The fight for key cities in
eastern cities of Ukraine has
barely moved for months.
Russia said it achieved its
first territorial gain in
Ukraine since July.
Kyiv says the battle continues.
Nick schifrin reports.
>> The Ukrainian soldiers who
spent six months trying to
defend every street, every
corner in soledar said the
battle has felt like World War
II.
A brutal violent fight over a
small patch of land that has
become a wasteland to 10,000
people used live here.
Soldiers say it is full of
craters from constant artillery
and the smell of death.
Russia's gains thanks to the
Wegner group's mercenaries, many
of them criminals were acquitted
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.
>> Member we are on god-given
land.
Glory to Ukraine.
>> It is a small mining town
part of the eastern donetsk
region not controlled by Russia.
It is just northeast of a
logistical hub Russia hopes to
encircle.
A Russian victory would be the
first territory gained in more
than six months.
Today Wegner mercenaries claimed
that victory and posted a photo
inside what they said is one of
the salt mines with the founder.
He claimed the remaining
Ukrainian resistance was limited
in an audio message.
>> Units have taken control of
the entire territory.
A cauldron has been formed under
the center of the city where
urban fighting is going on.
>> The Ukrainian president
volodymyr zelenskyy called that
propaganda.
>> They will present this to
their society to support
mobilization and give hope to
those who support aggression but
the fighting continues.
The units are holding out.
>> 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
empty and in ruins.
The few who remained including
75-year-old ohana constantly
reminded of what has been stolen
and destroyed.
>> Dear god, our town used to be
so beautiful.
There were roses everywhere.
Flowers.
It was clean.
Everything was kept in order.
>> And then it is time to go.
The shelling gets too close.
But she stands there.
She has nowhere else to go.
>> To discuss the significance
of the fight for soedar and
bakhmur from the institute for
the study of war.
You heard president zelenskyy
say 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?
>> Absolutely.
Russia is trying to score an
informational wi soledar at
enormous cost.
The information value is higher
than the military value.
As not forget we are 10 months
into the war and Russia lost a
lot of the territory it seized
originally and it still cannot
control fully even the luhansk
and donetsk region.
Soledar and bakhmut are to
create perception Russia can
advance pad Russia is trying to
put as a major area Russia has
been seizing.
The financier of the Wegner
group has exaggerated the
culture and economic value as he
is trying to position himself as
an effective combat force.
>> Is there a military
significance if the Wegner group
, if Russia is able to seize
soledar and threaten bakhmut
more effectively?
>> Russia has been trying to
establish control over Ukrainian
ground lines of communication.
It sits on the critical highway
as well as intersection of
several lines of communication.
Even if Russia takes soledar it
is not clear can fully establish
control over the lines as well
as the chance of some major
breakthrough for the Russian
advance after soledar which is
right Russian media is trying to
betray as a possibility are also
unlikely.
I want to emphasize soledar
comes at a great cost to Russia
in terms of spending a lot of
their manpower in pursuit of
limited gains.
>> Why has it been so important
for Ukraine to continue this
fight for so long?
>> The fact that Ukraine's
relentless defense pinned down
rush in those areas is
preventing pressure from taking
a breather on a battlefield.
It is a critical point because
it helps Ukraine to preserve its
momentum on the battlefield.
Ukraine is setting conditions
for the larger scale offensive
later this winter and spring as
Ukrainian officials have
mentioned.
The offensive that the west
should support at a large scale.
>> Today Moscow longed an
operational commander.
Their equivalent to the joint
chief of staff.
What is the significance of that
announcement?
>> I would say couple of things.
It is one of the reasons Russia
wants to score informational
wind on the battlefield.
Regardless of the rotations of
the senior leadership that Putin
is doing, it is unlikely to
change.
Fundamentally alter the
structural problems that led to
Russia mistakes and setbacks on
the battlefield in the first
place.
I do not think it will have the
immediate battlefield impact
that the Kremlin seeks to
generate.
>> Let's talk about western
weapons support.
Today the British prime
minister's spokesman said the
U.K. Was considering sending
tanks to Ukraine.
Poland said it would send
leopard tanks to Ukraine if
Germany gave it permission to
peer Ukraine has been asking for
leopards and tanks for months.
Is there now momentum in Europe
especially to send tanks to
Ukraine and how important are
those tanks to the fight?
>> I think it is a critical one
because those systems are
required for the larger scale
offensive we are 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
Ukrainian units cohesively in a
way that makes it easier to
resupply them.
>> Ukrainian officials are
asking for hundreds of tanks and
it is not clear the west is
willing to send that.
Lastly the U.S. Has announced it
will start in the next week
training Ukrainians on the
patriot missile system.
How important is that system
inside of Ukraine's larger air
defenses?
>> Boosting Ukraine's capability
to protect its airspace is
critical and will be critical a
month from now as well.
Precisely because Russia's
intent regarding Ukraine, the
Kremlin's objections have not
changed, are not likely to
change and will outlast Putin
most likely by design.
One of the key points early in
the war is the fact Russia was
not able to establish air
superiority in Ukraine.
New to boost Ukraine's ability
to protect its airspace is can
credit -- is critical.
>> Thank you very much.