Donetsk regional government hosts photo exhibition dedicated to occupied salt mining town of Soledar

Ukraine's regional authorities of the eastern Donetsk region hosted an exhibition dedicated to Europe's largest salt mine town of Soledar, occupied by Russian forces.

The event includes paintings and pictures of Ukrainian photographers and soldiers, the Donetsk regional military administration reports.

One can find the works of photo artist Oleksandr Parkhomenko and Iryna Rybakova, press officer of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, which has a major role in fighting for Bakhmut.

Europe's largest salt mine town of Soledar is among their art. Their work represents the town as it was before the start of a full-scale war and after Russian armed aggression, with all its terrible consequences. The photos represent the Armed Forces of Ukraine – brave and professional.

Soledar is a city of salt, a city of strength. For more than a century, the local salt mines were not only a place of mining, but also a tourist attraction. The town developed despite being close to the front line in the last 9 years, but in the end it was destroyed by the Russian occupiers, for whom the Ukrainian land is only a training ground for war crimes, the authorities emphasized.

Each frame in the exhibition is not only a fragment of the life of a front-line city but also a documentary confirmation of Russian atrocities, which sooner or later will be punished.

Thank you to all the defenders of Ukraine, who defend us from the invasion from the east, and thank you to the artists who preserve the moments of the war for history, they added.

In the summer of 2022, the largest salt enterprise Artemsil was destroyed by Russian shelling. It stopped the possibility of salt extraction in April 2022 for the first time since World War II.

More than 2500 people left their homes. Some salt was able to be extracted. It became another symbol of extraordinary courage, resistance, and strength of Ukrainian defenders and the entire Ukrainian people.

On the anniversary of the full-scale war, Artemsil and the United24 platform released a special batch of salt to help Ukrainian defenders raise funds for necessary equipment.