TAKE A LOOK | The ‘underground city’ carved from salt that Russia and Ukraine are fighting over. Business Insider

The vast salt mines are owned by state enterprise Artemsil, which was one of the biggest producers of salt in Europe, but halted operations following Russia’s invasion in February.

It has produced more than 280 million tonnes of salt since mining began in the town in the late 19th century, according to Reuters,

The miles of vast galleries that the mining activity left have been converted into an “underground city,” according to tourist guides that predates the war.

The subterranean world included a concert hall, a soccer field, a church, a bar, and a health spa.

The mines can be up to 300 meters deep and its mined tunnels have a combined length of 300km, Reuters reported, citing a local tourist website. Huge deposits remain still to be mined.

The health benefits of salt are well known and the mines’ micro-climate also combines with the healing process.

Near the tourist route there is a speleo-sanitarium where people are treated for bronchial conditions, asthma, chronic pneumonia, some forms of psoriasis, weak immunity, and thyroid diseases.

Capturing Soledar’s mines, among the largest in Europe, could serve a financial purpose for Russia. The salt from Soledar is known to be very pure.

However, it is unlikely that the current conflict conditions would allow salt mining to restart.

The United States has previously accused mercenaries from the Wagner Group of exploiting natural resources in African countries, including the Central African Republic, Mali, and Sudan, to help fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

Russia has rejected those accusations as being “anti-Russian rage.”

Capturing the mines could also be valuable to Russia to bolster its defensive position, as they could muster troops and store weapons underground where Ukraine could not strike them.

Prigozhin previously said on Telegram that he wants to capture “the system of Soledar and Bakhmut mines, which is actually a network of underground cities,” which he said could be used in war, according to a translation by Reuters,

Russian forces could then use this position to increase their assault on the nearby city of Bakhmut, which has been the main focus of the war in eastern Ukraine since the summer.

Taking Soledar and its salt mines could also serve as a symbolic victory for the Wagner Group.

Prigozhin said in a Telegram statement on Friday that “Soledar was taken solely by the efforts of the fighters of the Wagner PMC.” “And there is no need to offend the fighters by humiliating their merit,” he said. “You are demotivating them. We must fight, and not compete in whose dick is bigger and steal other people’s merits.”