The head of Russia’s mercenary Wagner Group claimed to have secured control of an eastern Ukrainian salt-mining town, but Kyiv denied Soledar has fallen and the Kremlin called for caution over victory declarations.
Battles continued on Wednesday in the centre of Soledar, which has been the focus of days of intense fighting as Russia sees the town as key to its campaign for the nearby strategic city of Bakhmut and Ukraine’s larger eastern Donbas region.
