Russia says its forces had taken control of the salt-mining town of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, claiming to have made its first big battlefield gain after half a year of military setbacks, SIA refers to Russian press.
Russian forces captured the town, long the focus of heavy fighting and bombardment, on Thursday evening local time, the defence ministry said.
It said this would make it possible to cut off Ukrainian supply routes to the larger town of Bakhmut, to the south-west, and trap remaining Ukrainian forces there.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify Russia's claim, which came after days of silence from the ministry about the fate of the town.
Serhii Cherevaty, a spokesman for the Ukrainian army in the east, denied the Russian defence ministry’s claim in remarks carried by the RBK Ukraine news outlet, saying that "fighting is ongoing in the city".
The head of Russian mercenary group Wagner had said on Wednesday that his forces had achieved the complete "liberation" of the mining town of Soledar, a claim denied by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said fighting continued.
"The capture of Soledar was made possible by the constant bombardment of the enemy by assault and army aviation, missile forces and artillery of a grouping of Russian forces," Moscow's defence ministry said.
Ukraine said earlier on Friday that its forces were still holding out in Soledar after a night of fighting, in what has become one of the bloodiest battlefields of the entire war.
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